Ernst Busch
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Busch (22 January 1900 – 8 June 1980) was a German singer and actor. He is best known for singing German socialist songs and was active during the Civil War in Spain and World War II.
Also recorded as Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Busch
Ernst Busch

Stark (geb. Katscherowski), Vera · Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-P1130-0011 / Stark (geb. Katscherowski), Vera / CC-BY-SA 3.0 · This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
- Name
- Ernst Busch
- Born
- 22 January 1900
- Birthplace
- Kiel, German Empire
- Died
- 8 June 1980
- Place of death
- Bernburg, East Germany
- Occupation
- Singer, actor
- Spouse
- Eva Zimmermann
- Awards
- Lenin Peace Prize
- Nationality
- German Reich · German Democratic Republic
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Documentary summary
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Busch (22 January 1900 – 8 June 1980) was a German singer and actor. He is best known for singing German socialist songs and was active during the Civil War in Spain and World War II.
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Note VALÉORINE
Ernst Busch was an actor, cabaret performer and film actor, among other activities and a national of German Democratic Republic and German Reich. The actor worked in Berlin, Frankfurt (Oder) and Kiel, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Authority files
gnd · 1386958735 · wikidata · Q159117
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ernst Busch • Born — 22 January 1900 • Birthplace — Kiel, German Empire • Died — 8 June 1980 • Place of death — Bernburg, East Germany • Occupation — Singer, actor • Spouse — Eva Zimmermann • Awards — Lenin Peace Prize
Biography
Biography
Busch was born to a Kiel worker family. He started in life as a shipyard worker before he decided to make use of his acting and singing talent. Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin Kabarett scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie Kuhle Wampe, singing Solidaritätslied. A lifelong communist, Busch fled Nazi Germany in 1933, accompanied by his wife, Eva Busch, and with the Gestapo on his heels, initially settling in the Netherlands. By 1938 they had divorced, without acrimony, as their lives diverged. Eva settled in Paris while Ernst initially made his home in the Soviet Union where he worked with Gustav von Wangenheim on the 1935 film "Kämpfer" ("Fighters"). In 1937 he joined the International Brigades to fight against the nationalists in Spain. His wartime songs were then recorded and broadcast by Radio Barcelona and Radio Madrid. After the Spanish Republic fell to General Franco, Busch migrated to Belgium where he was interned during the German occupation and later imprisoned in Camp Gurs, France and Berlin. Freed by the Red Army in 1945, he settled in East Berlin, where he acted in the first play to be produced in the American-occupied zone, Robert Ardrey's Thunder Rock. He would go on to start his own record label and work with Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator at the "Berliner Ensemble". A beloved figure in the German Democratic Republic, he is best remembered for his performance in the title role of Brecht's Life of Galileo and his recordings of workers songs, including many written by Hanns Eisler. He also lent his voice to a memorable recording of "Peat Bog Soldiers".
Filmography
Filmography
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1929 — Katharina Knie • 1931 — The Street Song — Der Straßensänger • 1931 — Gassenhauer — Peter • 1931 — The Song of Life — Sänger • 1931 — Kameradschaft — Wittkopp • 1931 — Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. • 1931 — Hell on Earth — Ernst Kohler • 1932 — Kuhle Wampe — Fritz • 1932 — Raid in St. Pauli — Singer • 1932 — Strafsache van Geldern • 1932 — Die Zwei vom Südexpress — Hans, Heizer • 1932 — Eine von uns — Peter • 1933 — The Lake Calls — Besatzung der 'Carola' • 1936 — Der Kampf — Judge • 1960 — Five Cartridges — Singer • 1961 — Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder — Koch • 1971 — Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment — Gaspar Melchor de Jovelianos — (final film role)
Identity
Identity
Ernst Busch is recorded with the occupation cabaret performer. Recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded with the occupation stage actor. Recorded as film director, singer, stage actor and film actor.

Ernst Busch, Fotothek df pk 0000249 050
Abraham Pisarek · Deutsche Fotothek
Gedenktafel für Ernst Busch in der Künstlerkolonie Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Bonner Str. 11
Böhm (Stadtmuseum Berlin)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1900–1980
The full dated record · 3 entries
1900
Ernst Busch was born on 22 January 1900.
1980
Ernst Busch – Ernst Busch 1 (Lieder Der Arbeiterklasse 1917-1933) (1980) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1980
Ernst Busch died at East Berlin.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ernst Busch was born at Kiel.
Birthplace
Ernst Busch died at East Berlin and sources differ (the article records Bernburg).
Deathplace
Recordings of Spanish Civil War songs (incomplete list)
Recordings of Spanish Civil War songs (incomplete list)
From "Canciones de las Brigadas Internacionales" and "Solidarität". • Adelante Campesinos • Am Rio Jarama – "On the Jarama Front" • / Lied von der XI Brigade – "Song of the XIth Brigade" • Los Campesinos – "The Peasants" • Las Compañías de Acero • Los Cuatro Generales • Himno de Riego / Riego Hymne – "Colonel Riego's Hymn" • Hans Beimler • Des Lied von der Einheitsfront / Einheitsfrontlied • Lied der Internationalen Brigaden / Lied Der Interbrigaden – "Song of the International Brigades" • Mamita Mia • Die Moorsoldaten – "Peat Bog Soldiers" • Nuestra Bandera – "Our Flag" • Peter, Mein Kamerad – "Peter, My Comrade" • "Spaniens Himmel" or "Die Thälmann-Kolonne" – "Spain's Heaven" or "The Thälmann Battalion" (Page 30f)
Recordings of Second World War and other songs (incomplete list)
Recordings of Second World War and other songs (incomplete list)
• Ach Ihr Wege • Alle Waffen gegen Hitler • Ami go home • Aufbaulied • Die Armeen Europas • Ballade von den Säckeschmeißern • Der Barrikaden-Tauber • Dank Euch Ihr Sowjetsoldaten • Das Lied vom SA-Mann • Diplomaten • Der Graben • Der heimliche Aufmarsch • Es Kommt der Tag • Einheitsfrontlied • Frieden der Welt • Kämpfen wie Lenin • Kampflied gegen den Faschismus • Korea • Lenin • Lied der Bergarbeiter • Lied der Interbrigaden • Lied der Partei • Lied der Werktätigen • Lied vom Adler Stalin • Lied vom Vaterland • Linker Marsch • Links Rechts • Lob des Kommunismus • Marsch der Antifaschisten • Der Marsch Ins Dritte Reich • Matrosen von Kronstadt • Der rote Wedding • Sehnsucht nach der Heimat • Solidaritätslied • Stalin Freund Genosse • Trotz alledem • Legende vom toten Soldaten • Vorwärts Bolschewik • Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen
Holdings and surviving copies
Where the work is held
Holdings and surviving copies
Where material relating to Ernst Busch is held.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1386958735, Lied auf Ernst Busch.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q159117: Ernst Busch
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Awards, medals, and recognition
Germany's most prestigious school for stage acting and directing is named after the actor, the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts (Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch", HFS) in Berlin. Busch was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for 1970–71.
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.Ernst Busch – ein Jahrhundertleben . ernst-busch.net.
- 2.Karl Siebig. "Ich geh' mit dem Jahrhundert mit" : Ernst Busch – eine Dokumentation. Rowohlt (1980). . p. 13.
- 3.Michel Stermann " Dienstag geh ich ins Theater " – Ernst Busch – Von der Werft zur Bühne 1917–1920, TwentySix, 2017, , p. 7.
- 4.Michel Stermann: My Maman Grete – An educator from Germany for orphans of Holocaust victims in France and other family portraits. Twentysix Publishing, Norderstedt 2018, , p. 141.
- 5.Eike Stedefeldt. Ich habe zu viele Leben gelebt Zwischen Berlin, Paris und Ravensbrück. "Die Scheidung war kein Mangel an Liebe, sondern unsere Ehe war einfach unmöglich." – Eva Busch. 18 September 1996.
- 6.Aldgate, Anthony et al. Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War 2nd ed. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007. pp. 178. Print.
- 7.Ernst Busch – ein Jahrhundertleben. ernst-busch.net.
- 8.Archived copy.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1386958735, Lied auf Ernst Busch.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
His recorded language was German. He married Eva Busch. He was employed by Volksbühne, Piscator stage, Berliner Ensemble, Deutsches Theater and Kiel Opera House. He belonged to Socialist Worker Youth and Academy of Arts of the GDR. He worked at Kiel, Frankfurt (Oder), Szczecin and Moscow. Busch received Lenin Peace Prize, National Prize of East Germany, Order of Friendship of Peoples, Art Award of the FDGB, Order of Karl Marx and Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold.
Identity and origins
Career and activity
Recognition and collections
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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