Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German band, that is made up of former members of the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

(the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of the

Thomaskirche , native_name_lang = , image = Leipzig Thomaskirche.jpg , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Germany, where

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

was music director for many years) and a former member of the

Dresdner Kreuzchor The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden, Germany. It has a seven-century history and a world-wide reputation. Today, the choir has about 150 members between the ages of 9 and 19, from Dresden and the surroundin ...

Overview

Early albums consist of

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

music. The band's first name was ''Die Herzbuben'', but it was changed to ''Die Prinzen'' in 1991 to avoid confusion with the Volkstümliche Schlager duo ''

Wildecker Herzbuben Die Wildecker Herzbuben are a German music group of the Volkstümliche Musik genre, coming from Wildeck in Hesse. Discography * 1990: ''Herzilein'' * 1991: ''Zwei Kerle wie wir'' * 1992: ''Das tut gut'' * 1992: ''Weihnachten zu Hause'' * 1993: ...

.'' The lyrics of their songs are often humorous, tongue-in-cheek critiques of German government or society. The group's most popular singles have been "Alles nur geklaut", "Gabi und Klaus", "Millionär", "Küssen verboten", "(Du musst ein) Schwein sein", "Mein Fahrrad", "Olli Kahn" (about German

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

goalkeeper

Oliver Kahn Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in t ...

) and "Deutschland". In reference to the group's name and the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

fairy-tale "

The Frog Prince "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (german: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). ...

", the group's logo is a green

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

wearing a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. The frog logo has appeared in a number of album and single covers. Their hit song "Millionär" appeared in the accompanying video to the German textbooks "Komm mit", "Stationen", and "Kontakte". "Deutschland" is a very cultural and ironic song about everything in Germany. It was written by German songwriter Steve van Velvet.

Band members

Die Prinzen * Sebastian Krumbiegel (5 June 1966); vocals, keyboard *

Tobias Künzel Tobias Künzel (born 26 May 1964 in Leipzig) is a German pop artist and composer, best known as one of the lead singers for the group 'Die Prinzen'. Career Künzel attended the Thomasschule zu Leipzig, that time GDR, where he became a member ...

(26 May 1964); vocals, guitar, keyboard * Wolfgang Lenk (4 September 1966, Leipzig); vocals, keyboard, guitar * Jens Sembdner (20 January 1967); vocals, keyboard * Henri Schmidt (17 August 1967, Leipzig); vocals Backing band * Ali (Alexander) Zieme (23 March 1971, Leipzig); drums * Mathias Dietrich (24 November 1964, Leipzig); bass

Discography

Albums

* ''Das Leben ist grausam'' (1991) * ''Das Leben ist grausam'' (a cappella) * ''Küssen verboten'' (1992) * ''Küssen verboten'' (a cappella) * ''Alles nur geklaut'' (1993) * ''Alles nur geklaut'' (a cappella) * ''Schweine'' (1995) * ''Alles mit'm Mund'' (1996) * ''Ganz oben - Best of'' (1997) * ''A-Cappella-Album'' (1997) * ''So viel Spaß für wenig Geld'' (1999) * ''So viel Spaß für wenig Geld'' (a cappella) * ''Festplatte'' (1999) * ''D'' (2001) * ''Monarchie in Germany'' (2003) * ''HardChor'' (2004) * ''Akustisch live'' (2006) * ''Die Prinzen Orchestral'' (2007) * ''Die Neuen Männer'' (2008) * ''Es war nicht alles schlecht'' (2010) * ''Familienalbum'' (2015) * ''Eine Nacht in der Oper'' (2015) * ''Krone der Schöpfung'' (2021)

Videos

* VHS ''Das erste Video'' (1993) * VHS ''Das Live Video'' (1994) * DVD ''10 Jahre Popmusik'' (2001) * VHS ''10 Jahre Popmusik'' (2001) * DVD (two-disc) ''Akustisch live'' (2006) * DVD ''Die Prinzen Orchestral'' (2007)

Singles

* ''Gabi und Klaus'' (1991) * ''Millionär'' (1991) * ''Mann im Mond'' (1992) * ''Mein Fahrrad'' (1992) * ''Küssen verboten'' (1992) * ''Küssen verboten - Die Königlichen Remixe'' (1992) * ''Bombe'' (1992) * ''1x'' (1993) * ''Alles nur geklaut'' (1993) * ''Überall'' (1994) * ''Du spinnst doch'' (1994) * ''(Du mußt ein) Schwein sein'' (1995) * ''Ich will ein Baby'' (1995) * ''Alles mit'm Mund'' (1996) * ''Hose runter'' (1996) * ''Heute ha-ha-habe ich Geburtstag'' (1997) * ''Ganz oben'' (1997) * ''Junimond'' (1998) * ''So viel Spaß für wenig Geld'' (1999) * ''Sie will mich'' (1999) * ''Deutschland'' (2001) * ''Hier sind wir'' (2001) * ''Popmusik'' (2001) * ''Olli Kahn'' (2002) * ''Tiere sind zum Essen da'' (2003) * ''Chronisch pleite'' (2003) * ''Dürfen darf man alles'' (2021) * ''Alles nur geklaut 2021'' (2021) * ''Krone der Schöpfung'' (2021)

Charts

Singles

Albums

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinzen, Die East German musical groups Musicians from Leipzig Musical groups established in 1987 1987 establishments in East Germany Hansa Records artists