Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest

Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster	ARD[a] – Südwestrundfunk (SWR; since 2026)[1] Formerly ARD members: Nord- und Westdeutscher Rundfunkverband [de] (NWRV; 1956) Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; 1957, 1959–1961, 1963–1964, 1966–1971, 1973–1977) Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR; 1958) Südwestfunk (SWF; 1962, 1978) Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; 1965, 1996–2025) Sender Freies Berlin (SFB; 1972, 1991) Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; 1979–1990) Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; 1992–1995)
Participation summary
Appearances	68
First appearance	1956
Highest placement	1st: 1982, 2010
Host	1957, 1983, 2011
Participation history 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
External links
NDR page
Germany's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025

Germany has been represented at every Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 1956, except in 1996 when its entry did not qualify past the audio-only pre-selection round, and consequently did not enter the final and does not count as one of its 68 appearances. No other country has been represented as many times. Along with France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to their participating broadcasters being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The German participating broadcaster in the contest is ARD,^[a] who has delegated its participation to different members of the consortium over the years.

Germany first won the contest in 1982 with "Ein bißchen Frieden" performed by Nicole. The second German victory came 28 years later at the 2010 contest, when "Satellite" performed by Lena won. Katja Ebstein, who finished third in 1970 and 1971, then second in 1980, is the only performer to have made the top three on three occasions. Germany has a total of 11 top three placements, also finishing second with Lena Valaitis (1981) and twice with the group Wind (1985 and 1987), and finishing third with Mary Roos (1972), Mekado (1994) and Sürpriz (1999). Germany has finished last on nine occasions, receiving nul points in 1964, 1965 and 2015.

While having not reached the top ten in 15 of the last 20 contests (2005–2025), Michael Schulte achieved Germany's second-best result of the 21st century, by finishing fourth at the 2018 contest. Although German contestants have had varied levels of success, public interest remains high and the contest is one of the most-watched events each year.^[2]

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