Christian Anders

Christian Anders, an Austrian Schlagersänger, was born in 1945 in Bruck and der Mur in Austria. His original name is Antonio Augusto Schinzel-Tenicolo. His father was Italian and, after the war ended, the family left Austria for Sardinia where he lived until they moved to Offenbach am Main in Germany when he was 10. After finishing at school he started training as an electrician but his keen interest in music soon led him to form a band which he called 'Christian Anders and the Tonics'. He played guitar and sang while the band frequently performed in American army clubs in the Frankfurt area. He started making recordings in the 1960s and made his first TV appearance in the 1970s. His first big hits were probably 'Geh’ nicht vorbei' (1969) and 'Es fährt ein Zug nach Nirgendwo' (1972). He also lived in USA from 1987 to 1993 before returning to Germany. Not only a singer, he is also a composer and arranger with an impressive total of over 1,000 songs and poems to his name. He has also been involved with cinema and has written several books, many dealing with decidedly controversial medical and political themes. While in America he was associated with actress Heather Thomas and has since 2006 been married to Birgit Diehn.