Fred Bertelmann

Born in Duisburg, Germany on October 7, 1925, Fred Bertelmann was a prolific pop and schlager singer. He began his musical journey at the age of nine when he joined a local choir, which lead to a deeper interest in music and the desire to study instruments such as guitar, cello, and trumpet. He studied singing at the Nuremberg Conservatory while also taking acting lessons at UFA film studios. Fred Bertelmann fought in World War II and was taken captive as a prisoner of war in 1944. He was sent to a camp in Alabama and discovered swing music for the first time. Released in 1946, he settled in Bavaria and formed a band that would perform at American GI clubs. His career picked up pace in 1947 when he collaborated with composer and conductor Ernest Misch and appeared on radio broadcasts for the next three years. The next few years included touring Sweden and making his first television appearances in 1952. He became a popular schlager singer, releasing a series of singles and scoring many hits including “Der lachende Vagabund” (1957), which was a German-language cover of Jim Lowe’s 1953 hit “Gambler’s Guitar.” Fred Bertelmann continued to release hit singles over the next four decades including “Zwei Gitarren am Meer,” “Arrivederci Roma,” “Ti amo Marina,” “Ich wünsch' dir eine schöne Zeit,” and many others. During his career, Fred Bertelmann participated in the German national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and then again in 1964. He also acted in several films in the 1950s and 1960s. His releases slowed down in the 1990s, although he would still perform on occasion, making his final performances in 2005 and 2006 at the Munich Opera Festival. Several compilations of his recordings have kept his musical legacy alive, introducing his unique schlager music to new generations of fans. Fred Bertelmann died on January 22, 2014.

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