Unheilig

2000: “Phosphor” and “Sage Ja!”

The band’s first creation, the single “Sage Ja!”, Appeared in late 1999 with the support of the label Bloodline Records. The single stayed on top of the German charts for several weeks and won the club audience in Germany. In February 2000, the world saw the debut album, Phosphor. After completing his first performances at the Zillo Open Air, Wave Gothic Treffen Leipzig, Doomsday Festival and Woodstage Festival, the Earl retired to the studio, from which the first “Christmas” album “Frohes Fest” came out, and a little later - a full record, “Das zweite Gebot” (presented to listeners in February 2003 as part of a tour in support of L'Âme Immortelle ).

2003: Das zweite Gebot

“Das zweite Gebot” (“The Second Commandment”), which appeared in April 2003, became a kind of turning point in Count’s work: he almost abandoned the English texts (his native language gave him more opportunities for expressing thoughts) and finally separated from the former associates and producers who set conditions unacceptable to the Count on the content of texts and music. Since, in fact, the soloist supported the project alone, this did not affect the creative potential of the group: the Count, in any case, was not going to quit what he started. It’s characteristic that the title of the album (the second commandment is “don’t make yourself an idol”) for Graf is a kind of motto: he often admitted that he creates music in the first place, hiding his identity behind a funeral costume and a “mask” with white eyes, without giving the listener should be elevated to the cult of an ordinary person simply because the true “face” of Count is not visible behind this mask.

2004: Zelluloid

In February 2004, Unheilig released a new album - “Zelluloid”. Many people agree that it is worth starting an acquaintance with the group’s work on this disc: the album, by Graf’s own admission, turned out to be somewhat autobiographical, and this affected the “sincerity” of the sound.

2006: Moderne Zeiten

In January 2006, Unheilig released the Moderne Zeiten record. Thematically, he continued what began as “Zelluloid,” that is, some autobiographical line in the already worked out Earl's style: with music, and melodious, and dance, with lyrics that make it equally easy to smile and be sad. In terms of meaningfulness, the lyrics of Unheilig have probably been unsurpassed on the German scene for almost a dozen years: many people who love this group began to learn German only to fully understand the meaning of what was written by the Count.

2008: Puppenspiel and Unheilig & Friends concert

February 22, 2008 the release of the new album “Puppenspiel” took place, to which the Puppenspieler Tour 2008 was timed, during which Graf visited Russia for the second time in his stage life. The tour was ready to fail due to problems with the performer’s ligaments, however, with his characteristic tact, the Earl did not cancel the trip, but rescheduled it for a while.

At the end of 2008, Earl and his team laid a promising tradition in the form of a concert project “Unheilig & Friends”, in which Eisbrecher bands, founded by former Megaherz lead singer Alex Wesselsky, and supported by Earl Staubkind , founded by ex guitarist Terminal Choice Louis Manke ( Louis Manke ). According to the latest data, the Down Below group, promoted by Earl's keyboard player Henning Verlage , agreed to participate in the Unheilig & Friends project.

Around the same time, Graf abandoned his “Gothic” image with white lenses (which was justified in view of the worsened vision), was involved in several television projects and conducted quite a significant public and charity work. Among other things, a film was also shot about the band Ein Leben für Musik (Life for Music, 2008, the DMAX channel), which slightly opened the underside of the band’s concert and public life. How, at the same time, the outgoing musician managed to maintain an incognito real name and age, while remaining really close to the people he contacted at concerts and autograph sessions, remains a mystery.

2009: Grosse Freiheit and Lichter Der Stadt

At the end of 2009, the release of the album “Grosse Freiheit” (“Great Freedom”) was announced, and already in February 2010 the album saw the light of day. “Great Freedom” became, in some way, “great impudence” of Count: being a cut above in terms of melody than his previous albums, this disc found the perfect balance allowing people with completely different musical tastes to listen to these songs. It is not surprising that with the release of this disc the group is experiencing a huge rise in popularity (according to Graf, he himself is not yet fully aware of this). "Great freedom" carries the spirit of wanderings and sea voyages; The count admits that he conceived this record as a ship filled with stories. On the day the album was released, the DMAX channel aired a second documentary about the group, “Ferne Welt ich komme” (“Distant World, I'm Coming”), which became another unobtrusive look inside the creative process of creating the last album.

On February 16, 2011, there was news that Unheilig was working on material for the next 8th album of Lichter der Stadt (City Lights) . The album will be conceptual, like all the previous ones. Release date has not yet been determined.

On May 11th, Unheilig announced that they would be introducing two new songs from Lichter der Stadt on the Heime Reise Tour . The preliminary release date for the new studio album, which will be held in the spring of 2012, was also announced.

The album “Lichter der Stadt” was released on March 16, 2012 and already on March 27 became gold.

In October 2012, the Lichter der Stadt / Live DVD was released, recording a concert that brought together 35,000 spectators at the Rhein Energie Stadium in Cologne on July 21, 2012.

In mid-December 2013, it became known that Unheilig will take part in the German selection for the Eurovision song contest. Together with Unheilig on March 13 in the show “ Unser Song für Dänemark” 7 participants will compete for a ticket to the competition. Unheilig introduced the song "Als wär's das erste Mal". ^[2] Based on the selection results, Unheilig took second place, losing to Elaiza , who presented the song “Is It Right”.

2014: Gipfelstürmer

In October 2014, Bernd Graf in an open letter to Unheilig fans announced that the upcoming album Gipfelstürmer would be the last in his career ^[3] .

12/12/2014 the record saw the light of day.

2016: Von Mensch zu Mensch

On August 2, 2016, in his next letter, Count on the eve of the last concert as part of the Ein letztes Mal tour announced the release of his latest album, entitled “Von Mensch zu Mensch”.

On September 10, 2016, the Earl's last concert in Cologne was held, marking the end of his musical career and the collapse of Unheilig. On November 4, 2016, the final album of the Von Mensch zu Mensch group, dedicated to all Unheilig fans, was released.

On October 6, 2017, a collection of the best compositions and rarities Pures Gold - Best of Vol. 2 "

  In 2018, Unheilig received the new vocalist Sotiria Schenk, known by the group "Eisblume".

At the beginning of the year, a tour was held with her vocal performance.

• Earl - vocals, programming
• Christoph "Faces" Termulen - guitar
• Henning Ferlage - keyboards, programming
• Martin "Potty" Potthoff - Percussion and Percussion

Albums

• 2001: Phosphor
• 2002: Frohes Fest
• 2003: Das 2. Gebot
• 2004: Zelluloid
• 2006: Moderne Zeiten
• 2008: Puppenspiel
• 2010: Grosse Freiheit
• 2012: Lichter der Stadt
• 2014: Gipfelstürmer
• 2016: Von Mensch Zu Mensch

EP and Singles

• 2000: Sage Ja!
• 2001: Komm zu mir
• 2002: Tannenbaum
• 2003: Maschine
• 2003: Schutzengel
• 2004: Freiheit
• 2006: Astronaut
• 2006: Ich will leben (feat. Project Pitchfork)
• 2008: An Deiner Seite
• 2008: Spiegelbild
• 2010: Geboren um zu leben
• 2010: Für Immer
• 2010: Unter Deiner Flagge
• 2010: Winter
• 2010: Winter Special - (part of the Grosse Freiheit Winter Edition)
• 2012: Lichter der Stadt
• 2012: So Wie Du Warst
• 2012: Wie Wir Waren
• 2012: Stark
• 2012: Lichter der Stadt (Winter Edition)
• 2014: Als wär´s das erste Mal
• 2014: Wir sind alle wie Eins
• 2014: Zeit zu gehen
• 2015: Mein Berg
• 2015: Glück auf das Leben

Live

• 2005: Gastspiel
• 2006: Goldene Zeiten 2CD Limited Edition
• 2008: Vorhang Auf
• 2010: Grosse Freiheit Live
• 2015: Unter Dampf - Ohne Strom (MTV Unplugged)

DVD

• 2005: Kopfkino
• 2008: Vorhang auf!
• 2008: Goldene Zeiten
• 2010: Sternstunde
• 2010: Grosse Freiheit Live
• 2012: Lichter der Stadt Live
• 2015: Unter Dampf - Ohne Strom (MTV Unplugged)

Compilation

• 2008: Schattenspiel (Limited Tour Edition)
• 2010: Zeitreise (Limited Tour Edition)
• 2014: Alles hat seine Zeit - Best of Unheilig 1999—2014
• 2015: Gipfelkreuz
• 2017: Pures Gold - Best of Vol. 2

Video

• “Sage ja!” (2000)
• Freiheit (2004)
• Astronaut (2006)
• “An deiner Seite” (2008)
• Geboren um zu leben (2010)
• Für immer (2010)
• Unter deiner Flagge (2010)
• Winterland (2010)
• So wie du warst (2012)
• Wie wir waren (2012)
• Lichter der Stadt (2012)
• "Stark" (2012)
• Sonne (2012)
• “Als wärs't das erste Mal” (2014)
• “Wir sind alle wie Eins” (2014)
• Zeit zu gehen (2014)
• Mein Berg (2015)
• Glück auf das Leben (2015)
• Mein Leben ist die freiheit (2016)
• Der Himmel über mir (2017)

• Unheilig official site
• Unheilig at Last.fm
• Unheilig on MySpace.com
• Review of the album "Zelluloid"
• Puppenspiel Review