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Germany was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder", composed by Rudolf Maluck, with lyrics by Ernst Bader, and performed by Lale Andersen. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), selected its entry through a national final.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1961 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | ARD[a] – Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) | |||
| Country |  Germany | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 25 February 1961 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Lale Andersen | |||
| Selected song | "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 13th, 3 points | |||
| Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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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", one of the most iconic songs of the Second World War. Aged 55 on the night of the contest, she was also the oldest, a record she would hold until 57-year-old Dado Topić took to the stage for Croatia at the 2007 contest.
National final
The national final was held on 25 February at the Kurtheater in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, 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, who had represented Switzerland at the 1959 contest.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dieter Thomas Heck | "Was tut man nicht alles aus Liebe" | - |
| 2 | Friedel Hensch | "Colombino (ich weiß ein Tag wird kommen)" | - |
| 3 | Franck Forster | "Es war ein reizender Abend" | 3= |
| 4 | Christa Williams | "Pedro" | - |
| 5 | Fred Bertelmann | "Ticke-ticke-tack" | 2 |
| 6 | Heinz Sagner | "Jeden Tag voll Sonnenschein" | - |
| 7 | Renée Franke | "Napolitano" | - |
| 8 | Rolf Simson | "Wer das Spiel kennt" | 3= |
| 9 | Ernst Lothar | "Dich hat das Schicksal für mich bestimmt" | - |
| 10 | Lale Andersen | "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" | 1 |
| 11 | Bobby Franco | "Langsamer Walzer" | - |
| 12 | Peggy Brown | "Du bist meine Welt" | - |
| 13 | Detlef Engel | "Nach Mitternacht" | - |
On the night of the final Lale Andersen performed 8th in the running order, following Sweden 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 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.[2]
Voting
Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.
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