Inge Brück

{{Short description|German singer and actress (1936–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Inge Brück | image = Inge Brück 25.11.2004 jpg.jpg | caption = Brück in 2004 | image_size = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1936|10|12}} | birth_place = [[Mannheim]], [[Gau Baden]], Germany | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2025|9|8|1936|10|12}} | genre = | occupation = Singer }}

'''Inge Brück''' (12 October 1936 – 8 September 2025) was a German singer and actress, best known internationally for her participation in the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1967]]. She starred in the title role of a popular 13-part series for [[ZDF]], ''Miss Molly Mill'', a cleaning lady and amateur detective. From the 1970s, she focused on performing songs with Christian content, co-founding with other Eurovision veterans such as [[Katja Ebstein]] an initiative {{lang|de|Künstler für Christus}}.

==Life and career== Brück was born in Mannheim on 12 October 1936;<ref name="chartsurfer" /> Her father was a concert singer and her mother a pianist. She took acting lessons<ref name="chartsurfer" /> and began her singing career with the [[Erwin Lehn]] Dance Orchestra,<ref name="Martijn" /> where she was noticed by pianist [[Horst Jankowski]], who arranged a television appearance with [[Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff]], following which she was offered a recording contract.<ref name="chartsurfer" /> In 1957, she had a hit with "{{langr|de|Peter, komm heut' abend zum Hafen}}",<ref name="Martijn" /> a version of "[[Green Door]]", which reached No. 7 in the German chart. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, she made numerous TV appearances, appeared in stage musicals and toured with orchestras including those of Jankowski and [[Hazy Osterwald]]. Following a 1966 victory in an International Song Festival in Brazil,<ref name="Martijn" /> Brück was selected by broadcaster [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk|NDR]] to be the German representative in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. The chosen song "[[Anouschka]]" was internally selected by the channel.<ref name="digiloo" /> Brück went forward to the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1967|12th Eurovision]], held on 8 April in [[Vienna]], where "Anouschka" finished in joint eighth place of the 17 entries.<ref name="Martijn" /><ref name="ESC" />

Following her Eurovision appearance, Brück decided to concentrate on acting, and in 1970 she starred in a 13-part series for [[ZDF]] called ''{{Ill|Miss Molly Mill|de}}'' in which she played the title role, a cleaning lady/amateur detective, which was a ratings hit and regularly drew audiences of over 20 million. She performed the [[theme song]], of the series which was later released as a single.<ref name="chartsurfer" /><ref name="Martijn" />

From the 1970s, Brück focused on performing songs with Christian content. Along with fellow Eurovision veterans [[Katja Ebstein]] and {{ill|Peter Horton (singer)|de|Peter Horton|lt=Peter Horton}}, she was a founder and member of the initiative {{lang|de|Künstler für Christus}} (''Artists For Christ''). The group toured to churches and festivals, and released a double album.<ref name="Martijn" />

Brück was married to [[Michael Pfleghar]], a television director. She was later married to {{ill|Klaus Überall|de}}, but the marriage ended in divorce. She lived in [[Meschede]].<ref name="Martijn" />

Brück died on 8 September 2025, at the age of 88.<ref name="Martijn" />

== References == <references> <ref name="Martijn">{{cite web| last = Martijn| date = 9 September 2025| title = Obituary: Inge Brück (1936–2025)| url = https://www.eurovisionuniverse.com/uncategorized/weekly-update-23/| access-date = 11 September 2025| website = Eurovision Universe| language = en-GB}}</ref>

<ref name="chartsurfer">{{cite web| title = Inge Brück| url = https://www.chartsurfer.de/artist/inge-brueck/biography-ghng.html| access-date = 15 September 2025| website = chartsurfer.de}}</ref>

<ref name="digiloo">{{cite web| title = Anouschka| url = http://www.diggiloo.net/?1967de| access-date = 11 September 2025| website = diggiloo.net}}</ref>

<ref name="ESC">{{cite web| url = http://www.esc-history.com/details.asp?key=206| title = ESC History 1967| access-date = 26 November 2009| archive-date = 14 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314214927/http://www.esc-history.com/details.asp?key=206| url-status = dead}}</ref> </references>

== External links == * {{IMDb name| 1489664}} * {{discogs artist|Inge Brück}} * {{youtube|snx9B6tKuGU|Eurovision 1967 Germany - Inge Brück - Anouschka (10th)}}

{{s-start}} {{succession box | before=[[Margot Eskens]]<br>with ''[[Die Zeiger der Uhr]]'' | title=[[Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest]] | years='''[[Eurovision Song Contest 1967|1967]]''' | after=[[Wenche Myhre]]<br>with ''[[Ein Hoch der Liebe]]'' | }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruck, Inge}} [[Category:1936 births]] [[Category:2025 deaths]] [[Category:Musicians from Mannheim]] [[Category:German women singers]] [[Category:German television actresses]] [[Category:20th-century German actresses]] [[Category:Actresses from Mannheim]] [[Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants]]