Gabriele Susanne Kerner, known professionally as Nena, is a German singer and actress who became internationally famous with the 1983 Neue Deutsche Welle hit “99 Luftballons.” After the success of the band Nena, she developed a long solo career, worked in television, and co-founded the Neue Schule Hamburg.
Background
Gabriele Susanne Kerner was born on March 24, 1960, in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, and grew up in the Hagen and Breckerfeld area. She was the eldest of three children in a family headed by a teacher. The nickname Nena was acquired during a family holiday in Spain and later became her professional name.
Kerner left high school before completing the Abitur and trained as a goldsmith. Her musical career began in the late 1970s, when she joined the Hagen band The Stripes. The regional rock and new-wave environment of late-1970s West Germany provided the setting for her transition from local performer to recording artist.
Education
Kerner attended high school in the Hagen area but left before completing the Abitur. She subsequently trained as a goldsmith, completing the vocational training according to biographical accounts. No university degree is documented.
Her formative musical education was principally practical and professional rather than academic. The Stripes, founded in Hagen during the late 1970s, connected her with the emerging new-wave and rock scene that preceded the Neue Deutsche Welle breakthrough of the early 1980s.
Career
Kerner began performing professionally as the singer of The Stripes in Hagen in 1977. The band released the single “Ecstasy” in 1979 and its self-titled album in 1980, working within a British-influenced new-wave and rock style. The Stripes ended in 1981.
In 1982 Kerner moved to West Berlin with drummer Rolf Brendel and formed the band Nena with Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges, Jürgen Dehmel, and Brendel. The group’s first single, “Nur geträumt,” became a major German hit after a televised performance, and the band’s self-titled debut album appeared in January 1983. Its second single, “99 Luftballons,” became an international success during 1983 and 1984; the English version, “99 Red Balloons,” expanded the song’s reach beyond the German-speaking market.
The band Nena released several successful albums before ending in 1987. Kerner then continued under the name Nena as a solo artist, releasing recordings including Wunder gescheh'n, Bongo Girl, Chokmah, and later albums such as Willst du mit mir gehn, Made in Germany, Oldschool, and Licht. Her 2002 project Nena feat. Nena revisited earlier material and helped reintroduce the music of the band years to a new audience.
In 1994 she worked as an editor for Metro magazine. From 2011 through 2013 she served as a coach on the first three seasons of The Voice of Germany, a televised singing competition broadcast by ProSieben and Sat.1. She later appeared in other music television projects while continuing to record and perform live.
Kerner also co-founded the Neue Schule Hamburg in 2007. The school describes itself as self-administered and organized on a basis of freedom, responsibility, and democratic participation, reflecting the Sudbury-inspired alternative-education environment in which it operates.
As lead singer of the band Nena, she performed “99 Luftballons,” a 1983 Neue Deutsche Welle hit that became an international success in German and English versions.
She sustained a major solo career after the band Nena ended, releasing albums and touring under the name Nena for several decades.
She co-founded the Neue Schule Hamburg in 2007, an alternative school organized around self-government, freedom, and responsibility.
She served as a coach on the first three seasons of the German television singing competition The Voice of Germany.
(The band Nena’s internationally successful single, writte...)
1983
Views
Kerner's public work has combined a strong emphasis on music with support for alternative educational ideas. Through the Neue Schule Hamburg, which she co-founded, she has been associated with an educational philosophy that gives children greater freedom to pursue interests, participate in self-government, and assume responsibility for communal life.
Her music has repeatedly addressed personal change, hope, human connection, and the dangers of militarism. “99 Luftballons,” written by Carlo Karges and performed by the band Nena, became especially associated with the Cold War atmosphere of the early 1980s while remaining a pop song rather than a formal political statement.
Interests
Alternative education and school development.
Music & Bands
Pop, rock, new wave, Neue Deutsche Welle, and synth-pop.
Connections
Kerner was in a long-term relationship with drummer Rolf Brendel during the early band years. She later had a relationship with actor Benedict Freitag, with whom she had Christopher Daniel, the twins Larissa Maria and Sakias Manuel, and a son who died in infancy. She has two further sons, Samuel Vincent and Simeon Joel, with musician and producer Philipp Palm.
Philipp Palm has also worked professionally with Nena as a musician and producer. Her daughter Larissa Kerner has pursued work in music and television, including appearances alongside her mother.
Partner:
Philipp Palm
Musician and producer who has worked with Nena and is the father of her sons Samuel Vincent and Simeon Joel.
Daughter:
Larissa Maria Kerner
Nena’s daughter, who has worked in music and television.
Son:
Sakias Manuel Kerner
Nena’s son and twin of Larissa Maria.
Son:
Samuel Vincent Kerner
Nena’s son with Philipp Palm.
Son:
Simeon Joel Kerner
Nena’s son with Philipp Palm.
Son:
Christopher Daniel Kerner
Nena’s first child, who died in infancy.
Partner:
Rolf Brendel
Drummer of The Stripes and later drummer of the band Nena; he was Nena’s partner during the early stages of her professional career.
Partner:
Benedict Freitag
Actor and former partner of Nena; they had three children.
References
Nena official biography
The official biography describes Nena’s beginnings with The Stripes, the formation of the band Nena, and the early success of “Nur geträumt” and “99 Luftballons.”
Nena official timeline
The official timeline documents Nena’s albums and major releases from The Stripes and the band Nena through her later solo career.
Neue Schule Hamburg: Unsere Schule
The school’s official website documents its founding in 2007 and its self-administered, democratic educational model.
Nena: Munzinger Biographie
A reference biography documenting Nena’s birth, family background, early education, goldsmith training, The Stripes, and the formation of the band Nena.
