Historica Wiki
Heino

Heinz Georg "Heino" Kramm (13 December 1938-) is a German folk singer. Born in Dusseldorf to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother, he lost his father during Operation Barbarossa in 1941 and trained as a baker and confectioner before starting a music career in 1961, having fallen in love with music after his mother saved up to buy him an accordion in 1948. He became a mainstay of German easy listening music in the 1970s and was a hit legend for conservative and mostly older Germans into the 21st century.

Heino was a supporter of the CDU, appearing at a reception at a CDU electoral campaign center in Berlin in 2017. He was also controversial for his performances of Nazi-era and other nationalist songs; he also performed the forbidden first verse of the national anthem at the request of former Nazi naval judge Hans Filbinger during the 1970s and violated UN embargoes by performing in South Africa during the 1980s. In 2024, he expressed his support for Donald Trump as well as CDU/CSU leaders Friedrich Merz and Markus Soder.