German entertainment icons Heidi Stroh, Helene Fischer and others in recent news

Actress and schlager singer Heidi Stroh died at age 85 in Liguria, Italy. She was remembered for a career spanning film, television and music, including a near‑cast in a James Bond film.

The late Trude Herr, a celebrated German show‑business figure, would have turned 100 this year. She died in 1991 at age 63 after a career that included more than 30 films and a self‑run theatre in Cologne.

Multiple former Ballermann performers have also passed away in recent years, among them singer‑actor Willi Herren (found dead in 2021), Chaos Team’s Sascha Loudovici (heart attack, 2023), Mallorca singer Alex Zapata (heart attack, 2022), reality‑TV star Jens Büchner (lung cancer, 2018) and recent deaths of Falko Ochsenknecht (2024) and Michael Piontek (pancreatic cancer, 2024).

During a concert in Vienna’s Ernst‑Happel‑Stadium, Germany’s top schlager star Helene Fischer experienced a wardrobe malfunction when the zipper of her glittering costume broke. She quipped, “Ratsch, es ist geplatzt,” and continued the show shirt‑less.

Austrian schlager singer Natalie Holzner fulfilled a childhood dream by performing on the stage of the “Starnacht am Wörthersee.” She announced on Instagram, “Mein 10‑jähriges Ich würde gerade komplett ausrasten,” and debuted her new single “Traumschiff” alongside established artists such as Beatrice Egli and Vanessa Mai.