Germany was represented by

Lale Andersen Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter and actress born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song ''Lili Marleen'' in 1939, which by 1941 transcend ...

, with the song "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder", at the

1961 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the . Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ho ...

, which took place on 18 March in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" was chosen at the German national final held on 25 February. Andersen was arguably the best-known singer yet to have taken part at Eurovision, being famous throughout Europe and beyond as the originator of "

Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troop ...

", one of the most iconic songs of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Aged 55 on the night of the contest, she was also the oldest, a record she would hold until 57-year-old

Dado Topić Adolf "Dado" Topić (born 4 September 1950, Siverić at Drniš) is a rock musician from Croatia and the former Yugoslavia. He was the lead singer and founder of Time, a 1970s progressive rock band. From 1970 to late 1971, he was also the lead sin ...

took to the stage for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Before Eurovision

National final

The national final was held on 25 February at the Kurtheater in

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'', w ...

, hosted by Heinz Schenk. Thirteen songs took part, with the winner being decided by a 21-member jury. It is not known by what method the songs were scored, and only the top four placements are currently known. One of the other participants was

Christa Williams Christa Williams (born: Christa Bojarzin 5 February 1926 – 28 or 29 July 2012) was a German pop singer most popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Williams was chosen to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the s ...

, who had represented

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

at Eurovision in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

At Eurovision

On the night of the final

performed 8th in the running order, following

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and preceding France. The song featured Andersen's trademark spoken-word singing style and was also unusual for including a refrain sung entirely in French, which was legitimate as at the time the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

had yet to introduce any specific rules regarding language of performance. However "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" failed to find much favour with the international jurors, picking up just 3 points and placing Germany 13th of the 16 entries. The German jury awarded 5 of its 10 points to contest winners

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

.ESC History - Germany 1961
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Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1961

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...