Maria Hellwig (22 February 1920 – 26 November 2010) was a German

yodeler Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...

, popular performer of

volkstümliche Musik Volkstümliche Musik (German for "folksy/traditional/popular music") is a modern popular derivation of the traditional ''Volksmusik'' genre of German-speaking regions. Though it is often marketed as ''Volksmusik'', it differs from traditional f ...

(

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

), and television presenter.

Life

Maria Neumaier was born in 1920 to Heinrich Neumaier, an electrician, and his wife, Maria, in

Reit im Winkl Reit im Winkl is a small village (locally known as a snow-magnet) located on the German/Austrian border in the southeastern part of Bavaria, Germany. Part of the Traunstein district, it was previously an immigration and customs control point (pri ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. At the age of five, she performed for the first time at Bauer Theatre in Reit im Winkl. After leaving school, she took an apprenticeship as a shop assistant. In her spare time, she acted in the theatre and took voice lessons. She married her first husband, Joseph Fischer, a fellow amateur actor, and had their only child,

Margot Margot ( , ) is a feminine given name, a French language, French diminutive of Marguerite (given name), Marguerite that has long been used as an independent name. Variant spellings in use include Margo (given name), Margo and Margaux (name), Margaux ...

, on 5 July 1941. Fischer died shortly afterwards while fighting in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She hosted several music TV-shows in the 1980s and 1990s. Maria became almost blind in 1996. On 26 November 2010, she died in

Ruhpolding Ruhpolding is the municipality with the biggest area of the Traunstein (district), Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps and next to the Austrian border. The economy ...

, Bavaria, Germany.

References

External links

Official website
* 1920 births 2010 deaths German yodelers German folk singers German women folk singers People from Traunstein (district) Blind folk musicians German blind singers 20th-century German musicians Musicians from Bavaria {{Germany-singer-stub