Last updated: 20.12.2023, 11:17 a.m.
By: Daniel Geradtz, Moritz Bletzinger
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Günther Emmerlich is dead. The East German TV icon died unexpectedly. On Sunday he had performed at a Christmas concert.
Dresden – The opera singer and entertainer Gunther Emmerlich died unexpectedly on Tuesday morning at the age of 79. The cause of death was given by his management as heart failure. This was first reported by the dpa news agency.
Gunter Emmerlich dies unexpectedly: cause of death heart failure
According to information from the Bild.de, Emmerlich died at home in Dresden. "He complained of shortness of breath. As a result, his son Johannes called the ambulance. But he came too late. When they arrived, Günther Emmerlich was already dead. The official cause of death was heart failure," said his manager Gunter Grebler.
Emmerlich underwent several heart surgeries. In 2007, doctors placed a bypass for him for the first time. In November 2014, he had to undergo another heart operation. He had ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Günther Emmerlich is dead: Entertainer dies a few days after last performance
Just last week, Emmerlich was a guest on the MDR talk show Riverboat. On Sunday, he showed off his skills at the Christmas concert in Lößnitz, Saxony. The week before, Emmerlich had appeared as a surprise guest at the Christmas concert at the Friedrich Schiller School in Ronneburg for a good cause.
As his manager Bild.de announced, Emmerlich completed a tight program with four concerts last week. "He looked a little bit battered, but said he was performing naturally. We would have cancelled the gigs immediately if he had had serious problems. But they were not recognizable," Grebler said.
Emmerlich had lived in Dresden for many years. He was born on 18 September 1944 in Eisenberg (Thuringia). Characteristic of the 1.93 meter tall man was his full beard.
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He sang at the Semperoper and entertained viewers on German TV: Günther Emmerlich has died at the age of 79. © Hein Hartmann/Imago
Gunter Emmerlich: Singer on the second chance of education
At a young age, he first attended the engineering school for civil engineering in Erfurt. Only then did he devote himself to music and studied opera singing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar. As a bass player, he was a permanent member of the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden for 20 years.
From 1987 onwards, Emmerlich appeared more and more on television, including in cult shows such as "Wetten Dass ...?". In 1992 he terminated the contract with the Dresden Opera House. In 1997 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Gunter Emmerlich was banned from performing in the GDR
In the GDR, Emmerlich was also a political person. His sometimes rebellious remarks brought him into the focus of the GDR cultural authorities, who temporarily banned him from performing for a regionally limited period because of anti-state views.
It was only recently announced that Alfio De Benedictis had died. He was a veteran of the RTL-2 show "Berlin – Day and Night".