The early years The band, composed of Stefan Zauner (vocals, keyboards),
Aron Strobel (guitar and vocals),
Rennie Hatzke (drums), Michael Kunzi (bass and vocals), and Alex Grünwald (keyboard), formed in the early 1980s. Their first album
Umsteiger, released in 1982, was a rough-around-the-edges form of
new wave showing an aggressive side to Zauner's otherwise smooth vocals. This was followed a year later by
Licht, which took them in a more
synthpop direction. The band's next album
Herzschlag einer Stadt in 1984 was a more commercial new wave record, which spawned a Top 30 hit in
West Germany, "Oh Baby".
Breakthrough The band's first big hit album came in 1986 with ''
, meaning "from the beginning". Living up to its title, the album contained a selection of new singles, a previously unreleased live version of "Zeig mir die Nacht" (from Umsteiger''), two remixes and the occasional track from their previous two albums. Its success was due largely to its two original hit singles, and .
The international years Following the success of
Von Anfang an and its follow-up, ''
, the band aimed for international success and began recording tracks from both albums in English. The result was Romancing in the Dark
, containing English version of six tracks from Traumziel
plus their three biggest West German hits. On this and subsequent English-language albums, the band was credited simply as Freiheit''. The majority of the English lyrics were written by the band themselves with some assistance from outside lyricists. (Later the band relied on English lyrics written by professional lyricists Tim Touchton and Curtis Briggs.) The album was released throughout Europe, and there were big hits in Greece (where "Every Time" was a number one single), Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. In 1988, Münchener Freiheit released
Fantasie in West Germany and its English counterpart,
Fantasy. Unlike
Romancing in the Dark,
Fantasy contained all tracks from its German counterpart. The album went un-noticed throughout the US but was moderately successful in Europe. Freiheit never again released an English album in the US. However, in their homeland,
Fantasie was a great success spending eight weeks in the Top 10 peaking at number four and spawning two Top 15 singles: "So lang' man Träume noch leben kann" and "Bis wir uns wiederseh'n". "
Keeping the Dream Alive" is the English-language version of "So lang' man Träume noch leben kann". This single became the band's sole hit in the UK, reaching number 14 in the UK singles chart in December 1988. Their follow-up,
Purpurmond, was the last album to be re-recorded in English under the title
Love is No Science. Nine of its eleven tracks were re-recorded in English, along with a second re-recording of "Tausendmal Du", this time entitled "All I Can Do".
1991–present Although 1991 was a quiet year for the band, Zauner and Strobel were still active, releasing the album
Living in the Sun under the name of Deuces Wild. The album was recorded in English with most of the lyrics written by Tim Touchton, who had worked with the band since
Fantasy. Despite the moderate reception of
Purpurmond, the band returned to the German Top 10 in 1992 with
Liebe auf den ersten Blick, earning a Top 15 hit with the title track. The band also represented their country in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1993, finishing in 18th place with their song, "Viel zu weit". The band returned a year later with the album
Energie (1994), which gave them another Top 30 album in Germany, although their next two albums, ''Entführ' mich
(1996) and Schatten'' (1998; with a sleeve design by
Klaus Voormann), failed to chart at all. Leaving
Sony Music for the
EastWest label, the band moved towards conventional dance-pop on their next album,
Freiheit die ich meine (2000). The album saw the band re-enter the German Top 50 following their two album absence. The band changed labels again to
Koch International, releasing the albums
Wachgeküsst (2002) and
Geile Zeit (2004). Although these albums used a similar 'radio-friendly' formula to
Freiheit die ich meine, both albums peaked in the lower regions of the German Top 100. Münchener Freiheit continue to record and tour, celebrating their 25th anniversary with the Double CD retrospective
Alle Jahre, Alle Hits (2005) and a new single, "Du bist das Leben". Stefan Zauner left the band in 2012 to pursue producing solo-albums; his latest CD is
Zeitgefühl (2012). Tim Wilhelm replaced Zauner as a singer in the band. == Discography ==