On his tour of Germany Pop singer Heino wants to sing the national anthem at concerts

Heino is looking forward to singing his hits in full on stage during a tour starting in May. He is also planning to sing the German anthem in the halls: "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit".

DPA

09.02.2025, 15:44

dpa

Heino (86) brings the German anthem to the people. On his new tour "Made in Germany", he sings his hit songs in full length on stage for the first time in 30 years - and the national anthem "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit". In his own words, Heino has deliberately chosen smaller venues with a maximum of 800 seats for the tour. The tour starts on May 10 in Coswig near Dresden. "I hate big halls, 10,000 to 15,000 people, it's impersonal," said Heino. He wants people to listen to him.

Heino's manager Helmut Werner said on Sunday in Dresden about the plans to sing the third verse of the "Lied der Deutschen", the national anthem, at the concerts: "We are sending out a signal that it will be sung all year round, not just on the Day of German Unity." Heino is showing his pride in his homeland, customs and German culture, said Werner. The tour posters in black, red and gold should also stand for this.

Singing along to the anthem at concerts is encouraged

A good 25 years ago, Heino sang the national anthem for a boxing match with Henry Maske. According to Werner, this is Heino's most streamed and downloaded song at the record company, far ahead of "Blau blüht der Enzian". This obvious interest is one reason to include the anthem in the concert program. Singing along is expressly encouraged at performances throughout Germany.

"Above all, I'm looking forward to singing my songs again," said Heino. "It's new territory for me too, I have to learn my old songs by heart again and that's a lot with so many hits," said the singer, who has recorded over 1,300 songs in 65 years. 25 to 30 will be included in the program, alongside classics such as "La Paloma" and "Rosamunde" as well as "Junge" by the rock band Die Ärzte.