After last month’s focus on Austrian Volks-Rock’n’Roller Andreas Gabalier, I thought we’d keep the Schlager vibe going. This month let’s learn German with the music of Helene Fischer. With her blending of pop music and Schlager, Fischer is Germany’s biggest artist, best-selling singer and the most downloaded German artist of all-time.
About Helene Fischer
Although Fischer is the pop princess of Germany, she was actually born in Russia in 1984. Fischer’s paternal grandparents are part of an ethnically German group that were deported to Siberia in the 1940s. In the late 1980s, the Fischer family left Siberia and emigrated to Wöllstein in western Germany.
Early on, Fischer pursued her interest in music. She studied singing and acting. It was while she was studying in 2004 that, unbeknownst to her, Fischer’s mother shopped a demo that she had recorded to gauge interest. The plan worked and secured Fischer her first recording contract. And the rest, as they say, was history.
The Music of Helene Fischer
Ever since her first album, Fischer has seen commercial success. Fischer’s debut full-length release is 2006’s Von hier bis unendlich. But it is her sophomore album, 2007’s So nah wie du, that saw her break into the top five on the German music charts. Since then, the sky has been the limit in terms of Fischer’s musical career.
Her last three full-length studio releases have gone to number one in Germany and one or two in Austria and Switzerland. Whatever Fischer’s vocal chords touch turn to gold. Or rather, platinum when it comes to her poppy take on the traditional Schlager sound.
Undoubtedly, Fischer is best known for the song “Atemlos durch die Nacht” from 2013’s Farbenspiel. The song is practically her calling card and the album is one of the best-selling German language albums of all time. Today, Fischer’s a major pop star complete with larger than life stage shows and equally showy costumes.
There are also more than a half dozen live albums and the ubiquitous “best of” album that Fischer has released. Her most recent studio album is a self-titled album from 2017.
In addition to her German language music, Fischer has released an English language album (2010’s The English Ones). But for those of us trying to practice and learn German, it’s more “educational” to stick to her German music. Similarly, her 2015 Christmas album (aptly named Weihnachten, or the German word for “Christmas”) is a two-disc album: the first CD contains traditional German language Christmas songs, the second CD is English language Christmas songs.
Looking for another Ohrwurm to help you learn German? Check out previously featured musicians and bands!
Photo by Kristian Schuller used courtesy Universal Music Germany. This post contains affiliate links.
