) Anna quickly learned Polish and several other languages and grew up hiding her family heritage. She graduated from the Geological Institute of the
University of Wrocław. During her university years, she began her music career at the Kalambur Theater. German became known to the general public when she won the 1964 II
Festival of Polish Songs in Opole with her song
Tańczące Eurydyki ('Dancing
Eurydices'). One year later, she won the first prize in the
Sopot International Song Festival. German performed in the
Marché international de l'édition musicale in
Cannes, as well as on the stages of
Belgium,
Germany,
United States,
Canada and
Australia. She also sang in Russian, English, Italian, Spanish, Latin, German and
Mongolian. She recorded several albums for
Polskie Nagrania Muza in Poland and
Melodiya in the Soviet Union. In 2001, six of her Polish albums were reissued on CDs. In recent years, many
compilation albums of her songs have also been released in both Russia and Poland.
Career in Italy In December 1966 in
Milan, German signed a contract with the CDI company to release her records, thus becoming the first performer from behind the "
Iron Curtain" who recorded in
Italy. In Italy, German had performed at the
Sanremo Music Festival, starred in a television show, recorded a programme with the singer
Domenico Modugno, performed at the
festival of
Neapolitan songs in
Sorrento and received the "Oscar della simpatia" award.
Car accident and treatment On 27 August 1967, while in Italy, on the road between
Forlì and Milan, Anna German was involved in a severe car accident. At high speed, the car driven by the impresario of the singer crashed into a concrete fence. German was thrown from the car through the windshield. She suffered multiple fractures and other internal injuries. An investigation revealed that the driver of the car – her manager
Renato Serio – fell asleep at the wheel. After the accident, German had not regained consciousness. After the plaster was taken off, the singer still laid in hospital for half a year. Then it took her a few months to relearn to sit and walk. Later, she released the autobiographical book
Wróć do Sorrento? ('Come Back to Sorrento?'), dedicated to the Italian period of her career. The book's circulation was 30,000 copies.
Career in the Soviet Union In 1964, German toured the
Soviet Union for the first time as part of a delegation of Polish artists, performing songs by
George Gershwin,
Mark Fradkin,
Arno Babajanian. The editor of the "
Melodiya" Anna Kachalina invited German to record some songs in Polish and Italian. Her first songs in Russian were recorded in the fall of 1964. In the 1970s, German toured, performed and recorded in the
Soviet Union, working with
Aleksandra Pakhmutova,
Yevgeniy Martynov,
Vladimir Shainsky,
David Tukhmanov, Her most notable songs in Russian are "
Shine, Shine, My Star", "And I like him" (), "Hope" (), "No Hurry" (), "Randomness" (), "When Gardens Bloomed" (), "Echo of Love" (). == Personal life ==