Germany was one of seven countries to enter the Eurovision Song Contest 1956, the first
Eurovision Song Contest
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 ...
to be held. The German broadcaster
ARD held a national final to select two entries to represent the country:
Walter Andreas Schwarz with "" and
Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn (born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl; 27 September 1931) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn ...
with "". Neither song won the
1956 Contest, held in
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
,
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 ...
.
Before Eurovision
National final
The German national final was held on 1 May 1956 and was presented by Heinz Piper. Two songs were selected for the Eurovision Song Contest 1956.
There was a rumour that
Lys Assia
Lys Assia (born Rosa Mina Schärer; 3 March 1924 – 24 March 2018) was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940 ...
performed the song "" in the national final. However, this turned out to be incorrect, as she remembered only that she took part with a song of that title in a German music festival - it turned out that she competed with this song in the German Schlager Festival of 1961.
At Eurovision
The rules of the 1956 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest allowed two songs per country for the only time in Eurovision history, with the two songs from each of seven countries performing via two rounds at the same order of countries. Both entries were conducted by host Switzerland's Fernando Paggi. "" was performed fourth and "" eleventh, both following Belgium and preceding France's two songs. The scoreboard of the 1956 Contest has never been made public, making any statements about placing and points impossible. However, there is considerable speculation that "" placed second, after Switzerland.
OGAE Germany – Der Fanclub zum Eurovision Song Contest
/ref> The two entries were succeeded as German representative at the 1957 contest by Margot Hielscher with "".
References
External links
Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year
Detailed info & lyrics for "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück", Diggiloo Thrush
Detailed info & lyrics for "So geht das jede Nacht", Diggiloo Thrush
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1956
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956
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 ...