Cornelia Froboess
Cornelia Froboess (German: [kɔʁˈneːli̯a ˈfʁoːbøːs]; born 28 October 1943) is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 1960s. During that time, Froboess appeared in many West German and Austrian musical films, especially after the rock and roll wave hit Germany. In those comedy films, she would often portray the typical Berliner Göre (brat from [West] Berlin) who craves independence from her strict parents.
Also recorded as Conny Froboess · Die kleine Cornelia
Cornelia Froboess

Siebbi · Cornelia Froboess · CC BY 3.0
- Born
- 1943.
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- singer, stage actor, film actor, actor and musician.
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In this article
Career
Career
As Die Kleine Cornelia she had her first hit record in 1951, aged eight, with a song written by her father. "Pack die Badehose ein" ("Pack your bathing trunks") is a cheery tune about a group of children going swimming on a hot summer's day at Wannsee. The title of the song has become a set phrase and synonym for going swimming easily recognized even by speakers of German who have never heard of the song. As she grew up, she continued recording as Conny, then Conny Froboess. In 1962, Froboess finished in sixth place at the Eurovision Song Contest, where she sang "Zwei kleine Italiener" (Two little Italians) for Germany. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Froboess also recorded a Dutch (Twee Kleine Italianen) and Italian (Un Bacio Al'Italiana) version of the song. The same year she appeared as herself in Jean Renoir's comedy film The Elusive Corporal. Later, Froboess became a theatre and movie actress. In 1982, she appeared in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film Veronika Voss. In 1988 she played Marthe Schwerdtlein in Goethe's Faust I, a performance that was also released as a film: Faust – Vom Himmel durch die Welt zur Hölle. In 1997 Froboess played the mother of the protagonist Martin Brest (Til Schweiger) in the film Knockin' on Heaven's Door. On stage, she appeared in Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm in 1976, staged by Dieter Dorn, and played Ellida in Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea in 1990. At the Salzburg Festival 2004, she played Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. The same year she played the title role in Bertolt Brecht's play Mother Courage and Her Children.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
The Sinful Border (1951) Ideal Woman Sought (1952) Three Days of Fear (1952) Ten on Every Finger (1954) The Big Star Parade (1954) Let the Sun Shine Again (1955) Hula-Hopp, Conny (1959) Conny and Peter Make Music (1960) Mariandl (1961) My Husband, the Economic Miracle (1961) The Bird Seller (1962) The Model Boy (1963) Is Geraldine an Angel? (1963) Rheinsberg (1967) Crazy - Completely Mad (1973) Derrick – Season 4, episode 8: "Via Bangkok" (1977) Derrick – Season 5, episode 12: "Ute und Manuela" (1978) Derrick – Season 9, episode 2: "Eine Falle für Derrick" (1982) Veronika Voss (1982) The Summer of the Samurai (1986) Faust (1988) Judgment Day (1994, TV film) Windstorm (2013) Windstorm 2 (2015) Windstorm 3: Windstorm and the Wild Horses (2017) Windstorm 4: Ari's Arrival (2019) Windstorm: The Great Hurricane (2021)
![Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Eurovisie Songfestival 1962 te Luxemburg, voor Duitsland Conny Froboes Datum: 18 maart 1962 Locatie: Luxemburg Trefwoorden: artiesten, songfestivals Persoonsnaam: Froboes Conny Fotograaf: Pot, Harry / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinven](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Eurovisie_Songfestival_1962_te_Luxemburg%2C_voor_Duitsland_Conny_Froboes%2C_Bestanddeelnr_913-6614.jpg/800px-Eurovisie_Songfestival_1962_te_Luxemburg%2C_voor_Duitsland_Conny_Froboes%2C_Bestanddeelnr_913-6614.jpg)
Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Eurovisie Songfestival 1962 te Luxemburg, voor Duitsland Conny Froboes Datum: 18 maart 1962 Locatie: Luxemburg Trefwoorden: artiesten, songfestivals Persoonsnaam: Froboes Conny Fotograaf: Pot, Harry / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinven
Harry Pot for Anefo
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1943
Cornelia Froboess was born on 28 October 1943.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Cornelia Froboess”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
institutional register
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q70331: Cornelia Froboess
General reference · Wikimedia Foundation
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Cornelia Froboess, revision 1329453440 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Murrells, Joseph. The Book of Golden Discs. Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. 146. 1978. 0-214-20512-6.
- 2.Conny - Twee Kleine Italianen. Discogs. 1962.
- 3.Conny Froboess - Un Bacio Al' Italiana / Hallo, Hallo, Hallo. Discogs. 1962.
- 4.Portrait: Dieter Dorn at the Goethe-Institut
- 5.Carlson, Marvin. Reviewed work: The Lady from the Sea, Henrik Ibsen. Theatre Journal. 42. 3. 383–385. 1990. 10.2307/3208094.
- 6.The 2004 Salzburg Festival at The New York Theatre Wire
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Wikidata, structured authority record Q70331: Cornelia FroboessWikimedia Foundation
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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