56-465: " Punk Wedding " is a song by German singer Nina Hagen . It was released as a standalone single. The German version " Punkhochzeit " was first released in 1987 by Metropol Records and the English version was released in 1988 by Amok Records. The song celebrates Hagen's marriage to an 18-year-old South African punk named Iroquois. It is also her first independent release since the expiration of her recording deal with Columbia Records . The German version of
112-557: A CD single by G.I.B Music and Distribution GmbH. In 1999, she played the role of Celia Peachum in The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht , alongside Max Raabe . She also regularly performs songs by Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau set to Brecht's texts. In 2000, her song "Schön ist die Welt" became the official song of Expo 2000 . Another cover of a Zarah Leander song "Der Wind hat mir ein Lied erzählt"
168-546: A cover of " Spirit in the Sky " and also featured a 1979 recording of her hardcore punk take on Paul Anka 's " My Way ", which had been one of her signature live tunes in previous years. She performed songs from this album during the 1985 version of Rock in Rio . While in Brazil she met and befriended Brazilian musicians as diverse as samba diva Beth Carvalho and Brazilian punk singer Supla (who
224-473: A great deal of resentment toward the East Germans. Despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlins. East Berlin has a distinct visual style; this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes, with some still showing signs of wartime damage. The unique look of Socialist Classicism that
280-486: A long process of review (so, for instance, Leninallee reverted to Landsberger Allee in 1991, and Dimitroffstraße reverted to Danziger Straße in 1995). Another symbolic icon of the former East Berlin (and of East Germany as a whole) is the Ampelmännchen (tr. "little traffic light men"), a stylized version of a fedora-wearing man crossing the street, which is found on traffic lights at many pedestrian crosswalks throughout
336-647: A scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen (née Buchholz), an actress and singer. Her father Hans survived the Holocaust , being held as a prisoner at a prison in Moabit between 1941 and 1945 until the liberation by the Soviet Army . Her paternal grandfather Hermann Carl Hagen , who was Jewish, was murdered at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp on 28 May 1942, at age 56. Hedwig Elise Caroline Staadt, Nina's paternal grandmother,
392-474: A version of "Rangehn" ("Go for It"), a song she had previously recorded in East Germany, but with different music. The debut album gained significant attention throughout Germany and abroad both for its hard rock sound and for Hagen's theatrical vocals which drew heavily from her operatic training, far different from the straightforward singing of her East German recordings. However, relations between Hagen and
448-594: A way that was deemed cost-effective. Because of this, a massive amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7.5% tax on income for individuals and companies (in addition to normal income tax or company tax) known as the Solidaritätszuschlaggesetz (SolZG) or "solidarity surcharge", which though only in effect for 1991–1992 (later reintroduced in 1995 at 7.5 and then dropped down to 5.5% in 1998 and continues to be levied to this day) led to
504-723: The Zarah Leander (No. 45 USA) song "Ich weiss, es wird einmal ein Wunder geschehen") and the disco/punk/opera song, " New York New York " (No. 9 USA). During 1984, Hagen spent a lot of time in London and UK based MusicSzene magazine chief-editor Wilfried Rimensberger, in conjunction with Spree Film, produced a first TV feature on her and what was remaining from London's 70 Punk movement induced by artist and model Frankie Stein . Her 1985 album In Ekstase fared less well, but did generate club hits with "Universal Radio" (No. 39 USA) and
560-483: The cover band Fritzens Dampferband ("Fritzen's Steamboat Band"), together with Achim Mentzel and others. She added songs by Janis Joplin and Tina Turner to the "allowable" set lists during shows. From 1972 to 1973, Hagen enrolled in the vocal training performance program at The Central Studio for Light Music in East Berlin ( de ). Upon graduating, she joined the band Automobil. In East Germany , she performed with
616-514: The punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is known as "The Godmother of German Punk". Born and raised in the former East Berlin , German Democratic Republic , Hagen began her career as an actress when she appeared in several German films alongside her mother Eva-Maria Hagen . Around that same time, she joined the band Automobil and released the schlager single " Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen ". After her stepfather Wolf Biermann 's East German citizenship
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#1732894057208672-459: The 1979 film Cha Cha . Brood and Hagen would have a long romantic relationship that would end when Hagen could no longer tolerate Brood's drug abuse. She would refer to Brood as her "soulmate" long after Brood committed suicide in 2001. A European tour with a new band in 1980 was cancelled, and Hagen turned to the United States. A limited-edition 10-inch EP was released on vinyl that summer in
728-654: The Colour Film) as one of the three pieces to be played at her Großer Zapfenstreich military leaving ceremony. East Berlin East Berlin ( German : Ost-Berlin ; pronounced [ˈɔstbɛʁˌliːn] ) was the partially recognised capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Soviet occupation sector of Berlin . The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin . From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin
784-502: The DDR was cut short, when she and her mother left the country in 1976, following the expulsion of her stepfather. The circumstances surrounding the family's emigration were exceptional: Biermann was granted permission by East German authorities to perform a televised concert in Cologne , but denied permission to re-cross the border to his adopted home country. Hagen submitted an application to leave
840-656: The German Democratic Republic was established in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital—a claim that was recognized by all communist countries . Nevertheless, East Berlin's representatives to the Volkskammer were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981. In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked , and East Berliners were not allowed to emigrate. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960, caused by
896-623: The German television station ZDF . This was followed by a launch of Nina's UFO fashion underwear at anti-SAFT in Zurich, where again Rimensberger joined her up with New Romantic icon Steve Strange performing on stage. Simultaneously fashion photographer Hannes Schmid produced a Nina Hagen cover for German Cosmopolitan magazine. This also coincided with leading music publications like BRAVO and MusicSzene running cover stories that all put Hagen back on
952-513: The U.S. Two songs from her first album Nina Hagen Band were on the A side, and two songs from her second album Unbehagen were on the B-side . All four songs were sung in German, although two had English titles and the other two were covers of English-language songs with new German lyrics. In late 1980, Hagen discovered she was pregnant, broke up with the father-to-be Ferdinand Karmelk , and moved to Los Angeles. Her daughter, Cosma Shiva Hagen ,
1008-505: The United States. She followed it with two more albums: Fearless (1983) and Nina Hagen in Ekstasy (1985), before her contract with CBS expired and was not renewed. In 1989, she was offered a record deal from Mercury Records . She released three albums on the label: Nina Hagen (1989), Street (1991), and Revolution Ballroom (1993). However, none of the albums achieved notable commercial success. Hagen made her musical comeback with
1064-477: The album, Nina Hagen , which was backed up by another German tour. In 1989, she had a relationship with French stylist and music manager Franck Chevalier which yielded their son, Otis Chevalier-Hagen (b. 1990). In the 1990s, Hagen lived in Paris with her daughter Cosma Shiva and son Otis. In 1991 she toured Europe in support of her new album Street . In 1992 Hagen became the host of a TV show on RTLplus . Also in
1120-546: The authority of the East German government to govern East Berlin. Official Allied protocol recognized only the authority of the Soviet Union in East Berlin in accordance with the occupation status of Berlin as a whole. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U.S. military and civilian personnel wishing to visit East Berlin. In fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against
1176-586: The band Automobil, becoming one of the country's best-known young stars. Her most famous song from the early part of her career was " Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen (You Forgot the Colour Film)", with words by Kurt Demmler to music by Michael Heubach, a subtle dig mocking the sterile, gray, Communist state, in 1974. Hagen performed comic songs like "Hatschi-Waldera" and "Was denn" in Karel Gott ´s Czech TV show in Slaný . and "Wir tanzen Tango" in 1976. Her musical career in
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#17328940572081232-572: The city of Berlin. With the London Protocol of 1944 signed on 12 September 1944, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into three occupation zones and to establish a special area of Berlin, which was occupied by the three Allied Forces together. In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the whole city that was called "Magistrate of Greater Berlin", which existed until 1947. After
1288-455: The country. In it, she claimed to be Biermann's biological daughter, and threatened to become "the next" Wolf Biermann if not allowed to rejoin her father. Just four days later her request was granted, and she settled in Hamburg , where she was signed to a CBS -affiliated record label. Her label advised her to acclimatise herself to Western culture through travel, and she arrived in London during
1344-480: The eccentric singer were aired on many TV-channels. Hagen dubbed the voice of Sally in the German release of Tim Burton 's The Nightmare Before Christmas , Yubaba/Zeniba in Spirited Away and she has also done voice work on the movie Hot Dogs by Michael Schoemann. Due to the death of Elisabeth Volkmann (†2006), the German voice of Marge, during the dubbing of the hit TV show "The Simpsons" 17th season, Nina
1400-399: The event as a marriage between the punk and new age movements. The wedding was scheduled on August 9, 1987. When asked about having any apprehensions about marrying someone barely half her age, Hagen replied: It doesn't matter how old people are. It matters if they love each other and have fun with each other. It has nothing to do with age. To get old is a mental disease. Everything is in
1456-585: The existence of East Berlin. Citywide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all-Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring at the time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. East Berlin reached its highest population in 1988 with 1.28 million. The lowest value
1512-573: The forefront of something that, in retrospect, became a final highpoint of what the punk movement was all about. At the end of 1986, her contract with CBS was over and she released the Punk Wedding EP independently in 1987, a celebration of her marriage to an 18-year-old punk South African nicknamed 'Iroquois'. It followed an independent 1986 one-off single with Lene Lovich , "Don't Kill the Animals" (see Animal Liberation ). In 1989, Hagen released
1568-500: The former East. Following a civic debate about whether the Ampelmännchen should be abolished or disseminated more widely (due to concerns of consistency), several crosswalks in some parts of the former West Berlin began to employ the Ampelmännchen . Twenty-five years after the two cities were reunified, the people of East and West Berlin still had noticeable differences between them, and these differences became more apparent among
1624-442: The head. In 1995, when Hagen married Gordon Polk, the lead singer of the punk rock band FiFi, she claimed it was her first wedding and the previous wedding with Iroquois was "just for fun" and not real. Nina Hagen Catharina " Nina " Hagen ( German: [ˈniːna ˈhaːɡn̩] ; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during
1680-785: The height of the punk rock movement. Hagen was quickly taken up by a circle that included The Slits . Back in West Germany by mid-1977, Hagen formed the Nina Hagen Band in West Berlin 's Kreuzberg district. They released their self-titled debut album, Nina Hagen Band in late 1978: it included the single " TV-Glotzer " (a cover of "White Punks on Dope" by The Tubes , though with entirely different German lyrics), and "Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo", about West Berlin 's then-notorious Berlin Zoologischer Garten station . The album also included
1736-464: The older generations. The two groups also had sometimes-derogatory slang terms to refer to each other. A former East Berliner (or East German) was known as an " Ossi " (from the German word for east, Ost ), and a former West Berliner (or West German) was known as a " Wessi " (from the German word for west, West ). Both sides also engaged in stereotyping the other. A stereotypical Ossi had little ambition or poor work ethic and
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1792-505: The other band members deteriorated over the course of the subsequent European tour, and Hagen decided to leave the band in 1979, though she was still under contract to produce a second album. This LP , Unbehagen (which in German also means "discomfort" or "unease"), was eventually produced with the band recording their tracks in Berlin and Hagen recording the vocals in Los Angeles. It included
1848-524: The presence of the East German National People's Army in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany. Treaties instead used terms such as "seat of government". On 3 October 1990, East and West Germany and East and West Berlin were reunited , thus formally ending
1904-584: The release of her album Return of the Mother (2000). Besides her musical career, Hagen is also a voice-over actress . She wrote three autobiographies: Ich bin ein Berliner (1988), Nina Hagen: That's Why the Lady Is a Punk (2003), and Bekenntnisse (2010). She is also noted for her human and animal rights activism. Nina Hagen was born in what was then East Berlin , East Germany , the daughter of Hans Oliva-Hagen ,
1960-549: The same year (1992) she collaborated with Adamski on the European smash and minor UK hit single "Get Your Body". The following year, she released Revolution Ballroom . In 1994, Hagen starred in the acclaimed San Francisco Goethe Institut 's The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber , playing the singer version of "Anita" alongside dancer Darla Teagarden who portrayed the other "professions" of "Anita". Also, her voice
2016-405: The single "African Reggae" and "Wir Leben Immer... Noch", a German language cover of Lene Lovich 's " Lucky Number ". The other band members, sans Hagen, soon developed a successful independent musical career as Spliff . Meanwhile, Hagen's public persona was steadily creating media uproar. She became infamous for an appearance on an Austrian evening talk show called Club 2 , on 9 August 1979, on
2072-463: The single was labeled "Banned from East Berlin ". After her recording contract with Columbia Records expired in 1986, Hagen kept on performing and releasing music independently. In 1987, she caught the attention of the media by announcing her marriage to an 17-year-old South African punk named Iroquois, whom she met in Rome in 1985. The song "Punk Wedding" was written for the wedding and Hagen described
2128-578: The standard established in West Berlin. After reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Under the adopted policy of privatization of state-owned firms under the auspices of the Treuhandanstalt , many East German factories were shut down—which also led to mass unemployment—due to gaps in productivity with and investment compared to West German companies, as well as an inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards in
2184-605: The strains on the East German economy from war reparations owed to the Soviet Union, massive destruction of industry, and lack of assistance from the Marshall Plan . In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop the population exodus by separating West Berlin by the Berlin Wall . It was very dangerous for fleeing residents to cross because armed soldiers were trained to shoot illegal emigrants . East Germany
2240-535: The theme song for the film Tenchi Muyo! in Love . In May 1996, she married David Lynn, but divorced him in the beginning of 2000. In 1997 she collaborated with German hip hop musician Thomas D . In 1998, Hagen became the host of a weekly science fiction show on the British Sci-Fi Channel , in addition to embarking on another tour of Germany. In 1999, she released the devotional album Om Namah Shivay , which
2296-400: The topic of youth culture, when she demonstrated (while clothed, but explicitly) various female masturbation positions and became embroiled in a heated argument with other panelists, in particular, writer and journalist Humbert Fink . The talk show host, Dieter Seefranz, had to step down following this controversy. She also acted with Dutch rocker Herman Brood and singer Lene Lovich in
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2352-646: The war, the Allied Forces initially administered the city together within the Allied Kommandatura , which served as the governing body of the city. However, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a separate city government was established, which continued to call itself the "Magistrate of Greater Berlin". When
2408-570: Was a socialist republic . Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities. In the 1970s, the wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell. The Soviet Union and the Communist Bloc recognized East Berlin as the GDR's capital. However, Western Allies (the United States , United Kingdom , and France ) never formally acknowledged
2464-572: Was a minor hit the same year. The album Return of the Mother was released in February 2001, accompanied by another German tour. Hagen wrote the song "Handgrenade" on the album Return of the Mother for Christine Maggiore . In 2001 she collaborated with Rosenstolz and Marc Almond on the single "Total eclipse"/"Die schwarze Witwe" that reached No. 22 in Germany. On 14 October 2002 Nina hit Moscow by coming there with her concert, while interviews with
2520-402: Was a strong contender for the role, which eventually went to Anke Engelke . Hagen has been featured on songs by other bands, for instance on Oomph! 's song "Fieber". She did a cover of Rammstein 's " Seemann " with Apocalyptica . Later albums include Big Band Explosion (2003), in which she sang numerous swing covers with her then husband, Danish singer and performer, Lucas Alexander. This
2576-532: Was also murdered at Sachsenhausen. Nina's maternal grandfather Fritz Buchholz died during World War II. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. During her childhood, she saw her father infrequently. At age four, she began to study ballet, and she was considered an opera prodigy by the time she was nine. When Hagen was 11, her mother had a relationship with Wolf Biermann , an anti-establishment singer-songwriter. Biermann's political views later influenced young Hagen. She later returned to Germany and joined
2632-489: Was baptized in the Protestant Reformed church of Schüttorf . On 21 October after seven years passed she visited Moscow again. After a four-year lapse her next album, Personal Jesus , was released 16 July 2010, followed by Volksbeat , released 11 November 2011. When Angela Merkel ended her 16-year chancellorship of Germany in December 2021, she chose Hagen's song Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen (You Forgot
2688-769: Was born in Santa Monica on 17 June 1981. In 1982, Hagen released her first English-language album: NunSexMonkRock , a dissonant mix of punk, funk, reggae, and opera. She then went on a world tour with the No Problem Orchestra. In 1983, she released the album Angstlos and a minor European tour. By this time, Hagen's public appearances frequently included discussions of God, UFOs, her social and political beliefs, animal rights and vivisection, and claims of alien sightings. The English version of Angstlos, Fearless, generated two major club hits in America, " Zarah " (a cover of
2744-611: Was distributed exclusively online and included an unadulterated musical version of the Hare Krishna mantra. Hagen believes that the Hindu incarnation of Lord Vishnu known as Krishna was "the King of Jerusalem", and sometimes refers to Krishna as "Christ". She also provided vocals to "Witness" and "Bereit" on KMFDM 's Adios . Also in 1998, she recorded the official club anthem Eisern Union for 1. FC Union Berlin and four versions were issued on
2800-736: Was followed by Heiß , a greatest hits album. The following album, Journey to the Snow Queen , is more of an audio book – she reads the Snow Queen fairy tale with Tchaikovsky 's The Nutcracker in the background. In 2005 Nina Hagen headlined the Drop Dead Festival in New York City. Hagen was an active protester against the war in Iraq . In 2006 she was a part of the Popstars team. In August 2009 she
2856-633: Was heard on the Freaky Fukin Weirdoz single " Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick ". 1995 brought the German-language album FreuD euch , equally recorded in English as BeeHappy in 1996. Nina returned to San Francisco to star in another San Francisco Goethe Institut show, "Hannusen, Hitler's Jewish Clarvoyant". Hagen also collaborated with electronic music composer Christopher Franke , along with Rick Palombi (credited as Rick Jude) on "Alchemy of Love",
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#17328940572082912-468: Was in 1961, the year the Berlin Wall was built, with under 1.06 million registered. The figures in the following table, unless otherwise indicated, are from the official central statistical office of East Germany. Since reunification, the German government has spent vast amounts of money on reintegrating the two halves of the city and bringing services and infrastructure in the former East Berlin up to
2968-460: Was leader of a punk-new wave band named Tokyo), that invited her to contribute vocals to the hit 1986 song "Garota de Berlim" (Portuguese for "girl from Berlin") that received huge airplay in radio in Brazil. To this day, Brazilians remember Nina above all things as the Berlin Girl from Tokyo's song. Wilfried Rimensberger and award-winning film director Lothar Spree produced a TV documentary for
3024-455: Was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall . The Western Allied powers did not recognize East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor the GDR's authority to govern East Berlin. For most of its administrative existence, East Berlin was officially known as Berlin, capital of the GDR ( German : Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR ) by the GDR government. On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified , East and West Berlin formally reunited as
3080-535: Was used in East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) also contrasts markedly with the urban development styles employed in the former West Berlin. Additionally, the former East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) retains a small number of its GDR-era street and place names commemorating German socialist heroes, such as Karl-Marx-Allee , Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz , and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße . Many such names, however, were deemed inappropriate (for various reasons) and, through decommunization , changed after
3136-575: Was withdrawn in 1976, Hagen followed him to Hamburg . Shortly afterwards, she was offered a record deal from CBS Records and formed the Nina Hagen Band . Their self-titled debut album was released in late 1978 to critical acclaim and was a commercial success selling over 250,000 copies. The band released one more album, Unbehagen , before their break-up in 1979. In 1982, Hagen signed a new contract with CBS and released her debut solo album NunSexMonkRock , which became her first record to chart in
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