Gisbert Wilhelm Enno Freiherr zu Innhausen und Knyphausen (born 23 April 1979 in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

) is a German singer-songwriter from the

Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch, Hesse, Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part ...

in Hesse.

Development

After a stay in Berlin, zu Knyphausen studied

Music Therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In August 2005 he founded the

Indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

–Label Omaha Records together with Philipp Heintze. In the following autumn he played his first solo gig under his own name. He has since switched to using a whole band in his performances. His debut album, ''Gisbert zu Knyphausen'' was launched on 25 April 2008 by PIAS Germany. It contains solistic songs accompanied by a band. Gisbert zu Knyphausen's lyrics are often

melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval, and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complain ...

but also have a hopeful character. He mentions ClickClickDecker, Ton Steine Scherben and

Element of Crime Element of Crime is a German rock band that plays melancholic chanson, pop and rock music with guitar, bass guitar, drums and voice/trumpet. Band history The band was founded in 1985 by Sven Regener who subsequently became known as the auth ...

as his musical and lyrical influences. Zu Knyphausen lived in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

from October 2006 to April 2010, before he moved to Berlin. On 23 April 2010 his album ''Hurra! Hurra! So nicht'' was released. In 2017 the album ''Das Licht dieser Welt'' made the top ten in Germany.

Review

Zu Knyphausen's debut album received generally positive reviews and was called an "outstanding release" of early summer 2008. His songs have been described as laconic narratives with wry, sometimes sharp humor. Using minimal instrumental backing and the diction of the former century, he still manages to appeal to a young audience, perhaps because the

Weltschmerz (; literally "world-pain") is a literary concept describing the feeling experienced by an individual who believes that reality can never satisfy the expectations of the mind, resulting in "a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from ...

in his songs nevertheless hints at a some hope farther off

Discography

Albums

* ''Gisbert zu Knyphausen'' (2008) * ''Hurra! Hurra! So nicht'' (2010) * ''Das Licht dieser Welt'' (2017)

Singles

* ''Spieglein, Spieglein'' (2006/Sommertag EP) * ''Sommertag'' (2008/Gisbert zu Knyphausen) * ''Melancholie'' (2010/Hurra! Hurra! So nicht)

External links

Gisbert zu Knyphausen on MySpace

Interview with Gisbert zu Knyphausen on German Radio Station 1Live

Review of the second album

Omaha-records

Portrait of Gisbert zu Knyphausen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knyphausen, Gisbert Zu German male singer-songwriters German singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Wiesbaden 1979 births 21st-century German male singers