Helene Fischer (born 5 August 1984) is a German schlager singer. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four "Die Krone der Volksmusik" awards, and three Bambi awards. She has sold at least 18 million records. In June 2014, her multi-platinum 2013 album Farbenspiel became the most downloaded album ever by a German artist and is the sixth-best-selling album of all time in Germany. Her signature song "Atemlos durch die Nacht" was the best-selling song in Germany in 2014. She has had the best-selling album of the year in Germany five times: in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018. She ranked No. 8 on Forbes' list of "The World's Highest-Paid Women in Music 2018," earning US$ 32 million. Fischer has been referred to as the "Queen of Schlager".
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Early life and career
Helene Fischer was born in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, former Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, to Pyotr and Marina Fischer. Her father worked as a physical education teacher, and her mother was an engineer. Her paternal grandparents were Black Sea Germans who were among those sent to forced settlements in Kazakhstan and Siberia. In 1988, at the age of three-and-a-half, she immigrated with her parents and her six-year-old sister to Wöllstein, West Germany.
After graduating from high school, Fischer attended the Frankfurt Stage & Musical School for three years, where she studied singing and acting. During this time, she performed on stage at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, as well as at the Volkstheater Frankfurt.
Fischer's debut on stage occurred on 14 May 2005, in a program by the TV channel ARD. It was a duet with schlager singer Florian Silbereisen. The two later became a couple.
She has won 17 Echo awards, the "Goldene Henne" award seven times, and the "Krone der Volksmusik" prize four times. All her albums and DVDs have achieved multiple gold and double platinum certifications. Her songs, with their stories of the everyday worries and woes of home-loving folks, are lyrically close to what could be called "country music," although musically quite different.
Her fanbase extends beyond Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, and New Zealand.
She released her first English album, The English Ones, on 7 June 2010. The album was produced by Jean Frankfurter (Erich Ließmann), a German producer, composer, and arranger. On singing in English, Fischer commented: "I have always dreamed of singing my songs in another language. English is the language of country, the music that we call Schlager. Language is a tool, but it is important that what you sing comes from the heart – and that is what this album is about."
In January 2013, she made her acting debut in an episode of the German TV series Das Traumschiff.
Discography
Von hier bis unendlich (2006)
So nah wie du (2007)
Zaubermond (2008)
So wie ich bin (2009)
Für einen Tag (2011)
Farbenspiel (2013)
Helene Fischer (2017)
Rausch (2021)
Die schönsten Kinderlieder (2024)
Weihnachten (2015)
Tours
Mut zum Gefühl – Live 2008
Zum ersten Mal mit Band und Orchester Live (2011)
Für einen Tag Live (2012)
Genti King 2013
Farbenspiel Live (2014/2015)
Helene Fischer Live 2017/2018
Die Stadion-Tour 2018
Rausch Live (2023)
360° Stadion Tour (2026)
Awards
Bambi
2013: for Musik national
2014: for Entertainment
2017: for Musik national
Echo
2009: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
2009: for DVD Produktion des Jahres (Mut zum Gefühl Live)
2010: for DVD Produktion national (Zaubermond Live)
2012: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
2013: for DVD Produktion national (Für einen Tag – Live 2012)
2013: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
2014: for Album des Jahres
2014: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
2015: for Schlager
2015: for Album des Jahres
2015: for Hit des Jahres
2015: for Musik-DVD/Blu-Ray national
2016: for Musik-DVD/Blu-Ray national (Weihnachten), (Farbenspiel Live)
2016: for Album des Jahres
2016: for Live-Act national
2016: for Crossover
2018: for Schlager
Goldene Henne
2007: for Aufsteigerin des Jahres
2008: for Musik
2010: for Leserpreis Musik
2012: for Publikumspreis Musik
2014: for Musik
2014: Superhenne (Special 20th Anniversary Award)
2016: for Musik
2020: for Entertainment with Die Helene Fischer Show 2019
Goldene Kamera
2012: for Beste Musik national
2016: for Beliebtester deutscher Musik-Act
Krone der Volksmusik
2008: for the Erfolg des Jahres 2007
2009: for the Erfolg des Jahres 2008
2010: as Erfolgreichste Sängerin 2009
2012: as Erfolgreichste Sängerin 2011
Romy
2014: as Beliebteste Moderatorin – Show
World Music Awards
2014: Best-selling German Artist
Personal life
From May 2008, Fischer was in a relationship with Florian Silbereisen. The two were regarded as the "dream couple of German pop music" and frequently became the subject of speculative tabloid headlines. In December 2018, they announced that they had been separated for some time and had remained friends. Fischer later revealed that her new partner was aerial acrobat Thomas Seitel, with whom she collaborates in her stage shows. In December 2021, the couple married and welcomed a daughter. Later that same year, they moved into a house in Inning am Ammersee, where the family has lived ever since. In August 2025, she gave birth to a second daughter.
Social engagement and political statements
Fischer has generally refrained from making political statements in the past. However, she expressed clear opposition to discrimination, racism, hatred, and violence in an interview with the magazine "Stern". She described these as poisonous to society and called for the defense of democratic values, urging people to stand against extremism by participating in elections and resisting intimidation from antidemocratic forces.
Her remarks sparked controversy among her fans, particularly among suspected supporters of the far-right party AfD in Germany, who subsequently spread hateful messages under her Instagram posts and criticized her. On the other hand, she also received support for her outspoken stance against racism and antidemocratic propaganda. Some users praised her for publicly taking a stand and positioning herself against the far-right, with some declaring themselves new fans because of her opposition to hatred and intolerance. Fischer is not the only celebrity to have spoken out in the "Stern" magazine.