Inka Bause (born 21 November 1968 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

), also ''!nka'' or ''INKA,'' is a German schlager singer, TV presenter and actress. Her father was

Arndt Bause Arndt Bause (30 November 1936 – 11 February 2003) was a German composer of popular songs. Arndt Bause produced more than 1350 dance music melodies, many of which became "hits", which meant that he had a decisive influence on the music scene i ...

Life

Inka Bause was born in 1968 in Leipzig,

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, the third daughter of Angret and

. Her father was a successful composer of schlager and pop music in the 1970s and 1980s. During Bause's childhood, the family moved to the

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

district of

Biesdorf Biesdorf is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to ...

. As a young child, Bause was discovered by talent scouts from Musikschule Friedrichshain (

Friedrichshain Friedrichshain () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. From its creation in 1920 until 2001, it was a freestanding Boroughs of Berlin, city borough. Formerly part of East Berlin, it is adjace ...

Music School), where she played violin. After her

graduation A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...

, she joined the Stamitz Orchestra and took lessons in

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and singing. She graduated from the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin The in Berlin, Germany, is one of the leading universities of music in Europe. It was established in East Berlin in 1950 as the () because the older (now the Berlin University of the Arts) was in West Berlin. After the death in 1962 of one of ...

(Hanns Eisler Academy of Music) with high marks. Bause married Hendrik Bruch, a German singer and composer, in June 1996; the couple had a daughter in September of that year. They divorced in 2005, and Bruch died in 2016. Bause lives in Berlin.

Career

1984–2003: Beginnings and successes as singer and moderator

In a Silvester broadcast, Bause appeared on television for the first time with the song "Spielverderber" ("Spoilsport"). She was voted as Up-and-Coming Singer of the Year in 1985, 1986, and 1987 by the magazine '' Neues Leben,'' ranked highly in national competitions, and won the highest prize on the music television show ''Bong'' five consecutive times. Her first album ''Inka'' was released in 1987. In 1988 Bause began developing a second career as a television presenter; she regularly hosted the children's show ''Talentebude'' ("Talent Booth") until 1991 with her future husband Hendrik Bruch. During this time, she also toured the country with ''Super Pop '88'' and ''Traumpassagiere'' ("Dream Passengers"). In 1989, she released her second album ''Schritte'' ("Footsteps") that contains the song "Aber Du" ("But You"), which Bause sang on the West German series ''

ZDF-Hitparade The ''ZDF-Hitparade'', or ''Hitparade'' for short, by German TV channel ZDF, was one of the most popular and most well-known music television series presenting mostly German Schlager. From 1969 to 1984 the presenter was Dieter Thomas Heck. The l ...

'' in 1990. This gives her the distinction of becoming the first East German to take third place on the series. As a result, the song was released as a single by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, a label Bause would later release the albums ''Ich geh' durch die Nacht'' ("I Walk Through the Night") and ''Ein Zug von irgendwo'' ("A Train from Somewhere"). At the same time, she expanded her career as a presenter with broadcasts like ''Weinachten bei uns'' ("Christmas with Us") and a program on the Berlin radio station Spreeradio. In 1996, Bause ventured into acting, playing the role Janine Seidelmann in the

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

comedy ''Der Millionär'' ("The Millionaire") alongside

Herbert Köfer Herbert Köfer (17 February 1921 – 24 July 2021) was a German actor, voice artist, and television presenter. He was the first German TV news presenter for the East German Deutscher Fernsehfunk, and also presented the station's last news befo ...

and

Günter Schubert Günter Schubert (18 April 1938 – 2 January 2008) was a German actor. He was born in Weißwasser and died in Berlin. His son Alexander Schubert is also an actor. Filmography * 1966: ''Die Söhne der großen Bärin'' * 1972: ''Sechse ziehe ...

. She performed in the ''Deutsche Schlager-Festspeile'' festival in 1998, winning first place with her song "Ich will nur Dich" ("I Only Want You"). The same year she played the main role in the

MDR MDR may refer to: Biology * MDR1, an ATP-dependent cellular efflux pump affording multiple drug resistance * Mammalian diving reflex * Medical device reporting * Multiple drug resistance, when a microorganism has become resistant to multiple drugs ...

television film ''Panik in der Blumenstadt'' ("Panic in Flower City"). With the support of her manager Ingrid Reith she appeared on ''Starclub'' on the broadcaster

Hessischer Rundfunk (; "Hesse Broadcasting"), shortened to HR (; stylized as hr), is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, A ...

and signed a record contract with the German music producer

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

, both in the year 2000. The 2001 single "Florian" from her album ''Sei happy'' ("Be Happy") was noted as a comeback for her. She appeared as a guest on more than 20 television shows, and the song was chosen as the top hit of the summer by the radio station MDR Sachsen. Her father died in February 2003, leading her to cancel a concert tour. In June 2003, her song "Mein Herz bleibt bei dir" ("My Heart Stays with You"), for which she wrote the lyrics, won the MDR-Hitsommernacht. The same year she joined the television network

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

and hosted the special ''Musik aus dem Weihnachtsland'' ("Music from the Christmas Land") on Christmas Eve for the first time.

Since 2004: Further career

At the beginning of 2004 Bause hosted ''Hüttenzauber'' on ZDF with Thomas Ohrner. She presented the last broadcasts of ZDF's Sunday concerts in 2004 and 2005. For the 20th anniversary of her debut performance, MDR aired a ''Langer Samstag'' ("Long Saturday") tribute, hosted by

Jörg Kachelmann Jörg Andreas Kachelmann (born 15 July 1958 in Lörrach, Germany) is a Swiss presenter, journalist and entrepreneur in the meteorological field. Early life and education Jörg Kachelmann spent his youth in Schaffhausen. His childhood ambition ...

. At this time, she worked primarily as a television presenter; in addition to appearances on MDR and ZDF she hosted the

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

''Bauer sucht Frau,'' a German version of ''

Farmer Wants a Wife ''Farmer Wants a Wife'' is a reality television series developed by Fremantle Media. The basic structure of the programme is that a number of farmers are presented with women from the city, from whom they choose one to be their spouse. The fi ...

''. From 2006 to 2009 she hosted the reality show ''Unser neues Zuhause'' ("Our New Home"). From 2008 to 2012, Bause appeared in the ZDF series ''

Das Traumschiff ' ("The Dream Ship") is a German television drama series by ZDF. The series, about a cruise ship that travels to places around the world, debuted in 1981 and became one of the most-watched television shows in Germany. As of 2024, more than 100 e ...

'' ("The Dream Ship") and its spinoff ''

Kreuzfahrt ins Glück ''Cruise to Happiness'' (in German: ''Kreuzfahrt ins Glück'') is a German television series. It is a '' Das Traumschiff'' spin-off that follows two wedding planners and the couple that hired them. They are all traveling on the Dream Ship cruis ...

'' ("Cruise to Happiness") in the recurring role of the fitness trainer Inka. In 2008 she hosted the game show ''Die 100,000 Euro Show'' ("The 100,000 Euro Show") on RTL. She moderated the RTL music reality show ''Die singende Firma'' ("The Singing Company") with

Ross Antony Ross Anthony Catterall (born 9 July 1974), known by his stage name Ross Antony, is a British singer, entertainer and presenter based in Germany. He rose to fame as a member of the R&B/pop group Bro'Sis. Since the group disbanded in 2006, Antony ...

in 2008. In 2010, she hosted the RTL reality show '' Die Farm'' ("The Farm"), which was shot in Norway. She also hosted the RTL shows ''Papa gesucht'' ("Looking for Dad") from 2007 to 2009 and ''Jugendliebe'' ("Young Love") from 2011 to 2012, in addition to a 2006

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

special. In 2008, Bause released the album ''Mir fehlt nichts'' ("I'm All Right"), serving as executive producer and lyricist. She worked on the album with her ex-husband Hendrik Bruch, as well as

Stefan Waggershausen Stefan Waggershausen (born 20 February 1949) is a German singer, composer, and songwriter. Waggershausen was born in Friedrichshafen, at Lake Constance. In 1974 he produced his first record as singer. In 1980, he had his first big success with th ...

and Tobias Künzel (the latter from the band

Die Prinzen Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German pop rock band, consisting of former members of the Thomanerchor, and a former member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. Overview Early albums consist of a cappella music. The band's first name was ''Die Herz ...

). The album led to further television appearances, such as ''N3 Talkshow'', ''Willkommen by Carmen Neben,'' and ''

Florian Silbereisen Florian Bernd Silbereisen (born 4 August 1981) is a German schlager singer and television host. Since February 2004, Silbereisen has been a television presenter of the show ''Feste der Volksmusik'' on German broadcaster ARD. He was in a rela ...

.'' In April 2013, Bause became the co-host for the ZDF music show ''Die Frühlingsshow'' ("The Springtime Show"). In September 2013, she began hosting the talk show ''inka!,'' but according to press releases the show failed to meet the broadcaster's expectations, and it was canceled two months later. In 2015, she served on the 9th season jury for ''

Das Supertalent ''Das Supertalent'' (''Germany's Got Talent'', ''Got Talent Germany)'' is a German talent show, part of the internationally successful ''Got Talent franchise'', presented by Victoria Swarovski and Knossi. Just like in all other versions of th ...

'' (Germany's entry in the ''

Got Talent ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 60 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Frema ...

'' franchise), along with

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of the pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous G ...

and

Bruce Darnell Bruce Darnell (born July 19, 1957) is an American choreographer, model and television personality based in Germany. He is best known as a jury member for the TV shows '' Germany's Next Topmodel'' and '' Das Supertalent''. Biography Darnell was ...

. After a ten-year music hiatus, Bause released her eighth album ''Mit offenen Armen'' ("With Open Arms") through

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

in 2018. This was followed by the album ''Lebenslieder'' ("Life Songs") in 2020, which was accompanied by a national tour. The album covered themes relating to her childhood and youth. She founded her own record label to release the album and served as co-producer, working with a production team from Musicago. Bause produced two music videos from the album herself: "So ging noch die Sonne auf" ("That's How the Sun Still Rose"), which was shot in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, and "Mein Herz" ("My Heart"), which was shot at Zirkus Mondeo in Berlin. Since November 2020, Bause has hosted the show ''Inkas Abend'' ("Inka's Evening") on Schlager Radio B2. She began appearing in advertisements for an online dating platform in 2021. She took part in the 8th season of the reality show ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', where she dressed as a slice of toast and took fifth place.

Community involvement

* Inka Bause has been an ambassador for the Mitteldeutschland children's

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

since November 2005. She also donated the €25,000 winnings from her 2006 appearance on ''Starquiz mit Jörg Pilawa'' to the hospice., retrieved 25 October 2012. She has been an ambassador for another children's hospice, Berliner Herz, since 2017. Additionally, she is a sponsor of the palliative care center of the Vestisch Children's Clinic in

Datteln Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the biggest canal junction in the world, where the Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal, and Rhein-Herne Canal i ...

. * Since 2012, Bause has supported SchokoFair, a campaign of a

Montessori school The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

opposing the use of

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

in chocolate production. * Bause is a patron of

Irrsinnig Menschlich Irrsinnig Menschlich (Madly Human) is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation focused on mental health. It is a German registered independent organisation providing youth welfare services. The Voluntary association, associ ...

, a non-profit organisation promoting mental health among youth. * Bause helped build to kindergartens in Nepal with the support of Kinderhilfe Nepal e.V. and contributes annually for their maintenance. * Base supports projects by the Music School Pankow Weissensee such as dance projects in the Kinderhaus Berlin Brandenburg and the Human Dreams Children's Village in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

for disabled children.

Hosting / presenting

Solo

* 1988: ''Talentebude'' ( DDR-FS) * 2005 to present: '' Bauer sucht Frau'' (

) * 2006–2009: ''Unser neues Zuhause'' (RTL) * 2008: ''Die 100.000 Euro Show'' (RTL) * 2008: ''Die singende Firma'' (RTL) * 2010: '' Die Farm'' (RTL) * 2011–2012: ''Jugendliebe'' (RTL) * 2012: ''Drei Wünsche für...'' (

)dwdl.de
/ref> * 2012: ''Die Goldene Henne 2012'' (MDR and RBB) * 2012: ''Weichnachten auf dem Lande 2012'' * 2013: ''Inka!'' (

) * 2016–2018: '' Familien-Duell'' (RTLplus)

Jury

* 2015: ''

'' (RTL)

Discography

Albums

* 1987: ''Inka'' (

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

) * 1989: ''Schritte'' (Amiga) * 1991: ''Ich geh' durch die Nacht'' (

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

) * 1992: ''Ein Zug von Irgendwo'' (Virgin) * 2002: ''Sei Happy'' (

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

/White-Records) * 2006: ''Inkas grasgrüner Tag'' (DA Music) * 2008: ''Mir fehlt nichts'' (DA Music) * 2018: ''Mit offenen Armen'' (

Electrola Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano. History On 8 May 1925, the British Gramophone Com ...

) * 2020: ''Lebenslieder'' (Songshine Music) Chartquellen
Deutschland
/ref>

Compilations

* 2007: ''Meine Songs 1985–2007'' (Sony BMG/Hansa-Amiga) * 2010: ''Meine Besten'' (DA Music) * 2013: ''Collector's Box'' (DA Music) * 2018: ''Lächeln (Best of)'' (Sonia/DA Music)

Singles

* 1984: "Spielverderber" (Amiga) * 1990: "Schritte" (Virgin) * 1991: "Aber Du", "Tränen siehst Du nicht" (Virgin) * 1992: "Wenn Du gehst", "September", "Sag mir wo die Träume sind" (Virgin) * 1997: "Blonde Hexen" (G.I.B. München) * 1998: "Ich will nur Dich" (DA Music) * 2001: "Florian", "Weil Du Geburtstag hast" (BMG/White-Records) * 2002: "Sei happy", "Partytime" (BMG/White-Records; "Partytime" only as a promo single) * 2003: "Mein Herz bleibt bei Dir", "Sternstundenzeit" (BMG/White-Records, both only as promo singles) * 2006: "Millionenmal", "Ferner Mond" (DA Music) * 2007: "Grasgrüner Tag", "Pommes im Park", "Sommerzeit" (all DA Music, the former two only as promo singles) * 2008: "Gold in deinen Augen", "Die Körnung" (DA Music, both only as promo singles) * 2018: "Die Liebe findet mich schon", "Mit offenen Armen" (Electrola) * 2019: "Zeit die nie vergeht" (Electrola) * 2020: "Weißes Boot", "Hab' den Mond mit der Hand berührt" (Songshine Music) * 2021: "So ging noch nie die Sonne auf" (Songshine Music)

Filmography

* 1996: ''Der Millionär'' * 1998: ''Panik in der Blumenstadt'' * 2008–2010: ''

'' (4 episodes) * 2009–2012: ''

'' (8 episodes)

Audiobooks

* 2007: ''Alarm im Kasperletheater'' * 2009: ''Die kleine Schnecke Monika Häuschen'' episode 4 ("Warum sind am Himmel Wolken?")

Awards

* 2008: Golden Hen in the category Best Moderator * 2009: Mein Star des Jahres,

Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...

, Best Moderation

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bause, Inka 1968 births Living people Musicians from Leipzig German women television presenters German television talk show hosts German television actresses German schlager musicians RTL Group people ZDF people Actresses from Leipzig