Veronika Fischer

Veronika Fischer rose to prominence as one of the leading schlager vocalists in the former GDR through tracks such as “Du Willst Deinen Spass” (You Know What to Do) and “Ein Gefuhl Wie das Leben” (Emotion in Motion). She attended the Dresden Music College from the late 1960s into the early 1970s and first entered the East German music circuit in 1973 as a member of the group Panta Rhei. After completing her studies the following year, she assembled her own backing musicians and issued her debut solo record, Veronika Fischer & Band, in 1975. The subsequent releases Sommernachtsball in 1976 and Aufstehn in 1978 each moved well over a million units, establishing her among the GDR’s highest-selling artists. Additional LPs appeared across the rest of the decade, and by 1980 she had attracted listeners on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Possibly encouraged by her expanding audience in West Germany, she departed the GDR permanently in 1981. Though never quite matching her East German stature while based in the West, she sustained a solid professional presence nonetheless, with her appeal continuing into the first years of the 2000s.