Laudation for Siegfried Fietz on his 80th birthday by Thomas Schirrmacher
(Bonn, 27.05.2026) On May 25, 2026, singer-songwriter Siegfried Fietz turned 80. To mark this occasion, we present below a laudation by Thomas Paul Schirrmacher.
Laudation for Siegfried Fietz
Dear Siegfried, it wasn’t long ago that you and your son Oliver blessed my 65th birthday celebration with your songs—both during the official ceremony at the Cathedral of Mönchengladbach-Rheydt and at the subsequent celebration with guests from all over the world.
Since I grew up in Giessen near where you worked, I heard you perform live at a very early age. I can’t guarantee that I’ve heard all 4,200 of your melodies, but I think I’ve heard the majority of them. I have them readily available in my music program at all times. These include dozens of catchy tunes that take turns playing in my head and emotionally anchor biblical and spiritual truths within me.
An early highlight was the performance of the David Oratorio at St. Chrischona in Switzerland with the unforgettable lyre. Since I have a tendency toward depression, especially in light of the great suffering that comes crashing down on me daily as a human rights activist, a song from this oratorio is one of my most important companions. Recently, I woke up from a dream in which I had performed one of my favorite songs, “Beugt dich die Trauer fast zu Boden,” in the church at Taizé. After listening to the original version from “David” afterward, I looked to see if there was another version of it and found a very beautiful version by your son Oliver on YouTube (https://youtube.com/watch?v=RHLd2zR7saU, starting at minute 13). Thank you so much!
My children listened to your children’s musicals over and over again. That’s why I know the lyrics by heart not only of your major oratorios like “David,” “Peter,” and “Paul I & II,” but also “So ein flotter kleiner Otter,” “Maximilian Maulwurf,” “Wo wohnt die kleine Maus,” “Der kleine Spatz,” and many more. Now it’s the grandchildren’s turn.
The highlight was certainly when you and Oliver accompanied my wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem with “By good forces” in German, English, and Hebrew—the first and, to this day, only time that something was allowed to be performed in German at Yad Vashem. Afterward, we were with Jewish religious leaders from all over the world at the President of Israel’s residence, and the Jewish leaders expressly asked both of you to perform the song for them once more. You told the press at the time:
“The trip was a moving moment for me, one of the highlights of my life. Hitler and his henchmen did terrible things and decided on the extermination of the Jews 80 years ago at the Wannsee Conference. I am glad that 80 years later I was able to contribute something to reconciliation with my songs.”
Dear Siegfried, today is a great day—a day of gratitude, joy, and admiration. You look back on 80 years of life, and what a rich, eventful, and blessed life it has been. Anyone who looks at your work sees not only an impressive artistic legacy, but a testimony of faith in music, word, and deed.
You are an artist who has left a mark—deep, far-reaching, and lasting. Through your music, you seek to invite people to take an interest in God. And you have succeeded in doing just that in an extraordinary way. Your songs have accompanied, comforted, encouraged, and strengthened generations in their faith. You have brought God’s message to the people in a contemporary way—and with a credibility that cannot be learned, but only lived.
Your setting of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “By good forces” became known worldwide. This song is sung today in 14 languages and in 179 countries around the world. In 2021, it was voted the most popular hymn in a competition held by the Evangelical Church in Germany, even ahead of “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name.” It has been downloaded 15 million times on the internet. These are not mere numbers—this is a global echo of your music, a sign of how deeply your message touches people.
When I visited the president of an Asian country, your video “By good forces …” was played on a large screen at the reception, showing you singing Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s song at the white grand piano. They said it was a highlight of “German” music, on par with Beethoven and Wagner.
Your body of work as a whole is simply impressive: by your own count, you have written 4,200 melodies. Added to this are 350 album productions, more than 200 of which feature your own compositions. In addition, 100 children’s productions featuring your works have been created, and about 70 albums were collaborative projects with other artists. These numbers demonstrate not only diligence but also an astonishing creative power, faithfulness, and perseverance over decades.
Your work has always been more than just music. You have been and remain ecumenically engaged—open, approachable, and unifying. The fact that your songs were also in demand at the 104th German Catholic Convention in Würzburg in 2026—as they are at all Protestant and Catholic church conventions—shows just how much your music transcends denominational boundaries. Your concert about Bartimaeus was so well attended that many people had to stand outside. Your music draws people in because it carries something genuine, hopeful, and enduring within it.
You have also realized impressive projects on the international stage. With Ivan Rebroff, Coretta Scott King, eleven Broadway musical artists, the charity World Vision, astronaut James Irwin, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, you have created productions that are extraordinary in their diversity and scope. For you, financial success was never the primary focus, but rather God’s blessing. And that is precisely what one senses in your entire life’s work: it is carried by gratitude, faith, and inner breadth. Actually, I should now also mention all the poets and lyricists with whom you developed the songs and oratorios, including “hidden champions” as well as renowned names. Given the enormous breadth of the texts and themes, it is astonishing how music and content repeatedly come together in new and emotionally resonant ways.
Back to other artists: When I first heard Ivan Rebroff as the jailer and Heike Barth as Lydia in the oratorio “Paulus II” in 1986, I thought I was hearing the real people from nearly 2,000 years ago singing—truly brilliantly chosen voices and characters, and perhaps, for both of them, their most beautifully sung songs.
And as if all that weren’t enough, you have also created over 30 sculptures, which you exhibit in your own sculpture park in Greifenstein-Allendorf. Here, too, the same thing is evident: you are a creator, a seeker, an artist who wants to inspire people to engage in conversation—about art, about faith, about life.
Dear Siegfried, you are a person whose life is marked by creativity, faith, devotion, and fruitfulness. Today you can rightly look back with gratitude on a body of work that goes far beyond the scope of a typical artist’s life. You have not only written songs—you have given heart and hope. You have carried God’s blessing into the hearts and lives of millions. You have not only given concerts and produced records—you have uplifted people.
On your 80th birthday, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you have created, for everything you have given, and for everything that has grown through you. May God continue to protect, strengthen, and accompany you. And may your music continue to resonate in the years to come—clear, warm, full of faith, and full of hope.
Happy 80th birthday, dear Siegfried!
Downloads and Links
- Photo 1: Siegfried Fietz sings in the cathedral in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt on Thomas Schirrmacher’s 65th birthday © BQ/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 2: Siegfried and Oliver sing “By good forces” at Yad Vashem after the wreath-laying ceremony by Thomas Schirrmacher (far right) © BQ/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 3: Siegfried and Oliver Fietz (right and left) sing in the cathedral in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt on Thomas Schirrmacher’s 65th birthday, front row right © BQ/Martin Warnecke
- Wikipedia entry on Siegfried Fietz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Fietz
