More than a pretty face and a cool voice
Nena is a very versatile artist from Germany. She first rose to fame in the 80's with a string of new wave pop hits. Although her name may not be very familiar internationally, almost everyone remembers her Number One Hit "99 Red Balloons".
Aside from being a great singer, she is also an interesting character and an extraordinary person. Nena is a co-founder of the Neue Schule Hamburg in Germany, a school based on the principles of the Sudbury School model.
Being no stranger to personal challenges, Nena continues to inspire her fans through her music and positive commitment to the future.
Nena at a Glance

Nena (born Gabriele Susanne Kerner on March 24, 1960 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a singer and actress and the co-founder (with three others) of the Neue Schule Hamburg, a school following the Sudbury model. She rose to international fame in 1984 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons", known in English as "99 Red Balloons". "Nena" was also the name of the band with whom she released the song. With the re-recording and subsequent release of some of her old tracks, her career saw a second wind in 2002.
NENA: Made in Germany (2009)
Made in Germany
1. SchönSchönSchön 3:50
2. Du bist so gut für mich 4:27
3. Ich bin hyperaktiv 3:46
4. Dreh dich 3:15
5. Geheimnis 4:14
6. Du hast dich entschieden 4:13
7. Wir sind wahr 5:41
8. Made in Germany 3:44
9. In meinem Leben 5:38
10. Es gibt keine Sicherheit 3:25
11. Schmerzen 5:33
12. Ganz viel Zeit 6:29
13. Nachts wenn es warm ist 5:49
Nena - Bio
AKA Gabriele Susanne KernerBorn: 24-Mar-1960
Birthplace: Hagen, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany
Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Singer
Nationality: Germany
Executive summary: 99 Luftballons
Father: Alfons
Mother: Ursula
Sister: Christiane (younger)
Brother: Michael (younger)
Boyfriend: Rolf Brendel (in the band with her, together 8 years, split in Jan-1987)
Boyfriend: Benedict Freytag (three children, two sons, one daughter)
Son: Christopher Daniel (b. 1988, d. 1989 heart problems)
Daughter: Larissa Maria (twin, b. 1990)
Son: Sakias Manuel (twin, b. 1990)
Boyfriend: Philip Palm (drummer and producer, two sons)
Son: Samuel Vincent (b. 1995)
Son: Simeon (b. 1997)
Reference: nndb.com
Nena Videos | Latest Songs | Official Channel
Watch the latest Music Videos and more
Nena Videos | Concert Videos | Live Video
Nena | Discography
Albums, Year, Highest Chart Position
* The Stripes (1980) as The Stripes* Nena (1983) #1 GER
* ? (Fragezeichen) (1984) #1 GER
* 99 Luftballons (1984)
* Feuer und Flamme (1985) #2 GER
* It's All In The Game (1985)
* Eisbrecher (1986) #45 GER
* Wunder gescheh'n (1989) #23 GER
* Komm lieber Mai... (1990) #45 GER
* Nena Die Band (1991)
* Bongo Girl (1992) #32 GER
* Und alles dreht sich (1994) #53 GER
* Nena singt die schönsten Kinderlieder (1994)
* Nena Live (1995)
* Unser Apfelhaus (1995) #69 GER
* Nena und die Bambus Bären Bande (1996)
* Jamma nich (1997) #29 GER
* Nenas Weihnachtsreise (1997) #28 GER
* Wenn alles richtig ist, dann Stimmt was nich (1998) #42 GER
* Nena macht... Rabatz (1999)
* Chokmah (2001) #18 GER
* Nenas Tausend Sterne (2002)
* Nena feat. Nena (2002) #2 GER
* Madou und das Licht der Fantasie (2002)
* Nena Live Nena (2004) #31 GER
* Willst du mit mir gehn (2005) #2 GER
* Cover me (2007) #6 GER
* Himmel, Sonne, Wind und Regen (2008)
* Made In Germany (2009) #3 GER
Nena rocks!
Nena albums and singles
99 Luftballons - 99 Red Balloons
One of the most successful pop songs in the world by a German artist
"99 Luftballoons" is a Cold War-era protest song by the German singer Nena. Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as "99 Red Balloons".
"99 Luftballons" reached #1 in West Germany in 1983. In 1984, the original German version also peaked at #2 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and the English-language version topped the UK Singles Chart. The German version topped the Australian charts for five weeks and the New Zealand charts for one week.
When it made the charts in the United States, most US radio DJs incorrectly assumed that "99 Luftballons" translated to English as "99 Red Balloons" and spoke the number 99 in English, saying "Ninety-nine Luftballoons."
The translation of the title is sometimes given as "Ninety-Nine Air Balloons", however "Ninety-Nine Balloons" is also correct. A Luftballon is a colourful toy balloon, rather than a balloon for transport or research. The name is derived from Luft, German for air, but the meaning of Luft does not qualify the type of balloon. The title "99 Red Balloons" almost scans correctly with the syllables falling in the right places within the rhythm of the first lines of lyrics, with "red" replacing "Luft". The only difference is the missing counterpart to the German syllable "und" in "Neunundneunzig" (literally "nine and ninety").
99 Red Balloons - Lyrics
You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we´ve got
Set them free at the break of dawn
till one by one they were gone
Back at base, sparks in the software
Flash the message "somethings out there"
Floating in the summer sky
Ninety nine red balloons go by...
more...
Great Nena Hits For Kids
Himmel Sonne Wind Und Regen
Nena's latest children's album
Himmel Sonne Wind Und Regen
Amazon Price: $35.49 (as of 11/09/2009)![]()
Tracks:
Regen 2:49
Wind 3:05
Fragen (Duo with Rolf Zuckowski) 3:15
Kirschen 1:35
Ameisen 3:06
Baum (Duo with Philipp Palm) 3:16
Farben 3:24
Klein Häschen 1:24
Es Regnet 1:30
Mama (performed by Larissa Freitag) 2:48
Steine 3:22
Libellen 1:55
Himmel 2:21
Sonne 3:26
Von Kind Zu Kind 3:38
NENA - Farben (Colors)
Cute song from her last children's album
International Blog Posts about Nena
- WorldWide Religious News-99 Red Balloons singer Nena in Damanhur ...
- Berlin, Germany - The pop star behind the '80s smash 99 Red Balloons has become mixed up with a cult which boasts it possesses a working time machine - which can only be used nude. German singer Nena, whose song caused a storm Down ...
- All Music Site: German popstar Nena spent two days with sect ...
- German popstar Nena spent two days with sect Damanhur leader uses this machine for naked time travel! Popstar Nena the head of the sect and his time machine. Nena. The German singer and the Damanhur sect. Popstar Nena, the head of the ...
- When Falls the Coliseum » Rammstein: Teutonic metal gods conquer ...
- 3) That Nena chick of '99 luftballons' fame. In short, a roster of acts so unnecessary that we could safely consign them to the same dark abyss as Croatian thrash or Russian hip hop and the human race would be none the poorer for it. ... Now admittedly this is simply the march 'Left 2, 3, 4? sung in German and the video showed thousands of ants stamping around in militaristic fashion, even saluting grainy black and white footage of the lead singer. ...
Nena | Filmography
* Gib Gas ich will Spaß (1983)* Richy Guitar (1985)
* Der Unsichtbare (1987)
* Tobias Totz und sein Löwe (1999)
* Die Abrafaxe - Unter schwarzer Flagge (Pirates of Tortuga) (2001)
* Madou und das Licht der Fantasie (2003)
* Eragon (2006)
* Arthur und die Minimoys
Nena on DVD
Region 2 format DVD are encoded for Japan, Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East, including Egypt.
Nena Links
More Nena on the web

- Official Nena Website
- Official Nena website in German, by Nena's record company
- Neue Schule Hamburg
- Homepage of the school Nena co-founded and supports.
- NENA Song Lyrics
- Lyrics to all NENA songs, sorted alphabetically.
- Nena Fansite (English)
- A comprehensive English Nena fansite including galleries, a media section, biography, discography, and more.
- Nena Fanclub Lichtarbeiter
- The official Nena Fan Club "Lichtarbeiter" (Light Workers), unfortunately only available in German.
- NENA-COMMUNITY Forums
- Fan Forum Community, mostly in German but with 1 international Forum as well. You need to register to view AND post. They manually approve every registration. All in all a bit of a hassle; I guess you have to be a die-hard fan to tolerate this.
Any Nena twitterers out there?
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- nenalie
- haha salah tulis ko me.. wakakakak.. RT @MelindaChandra @nena nenaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......
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- melindachandra
- @nena nenaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......
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Shout Out For Nena!

Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
Flynn_the_Cat wrote...
Oh yes! My siblings intorduced me to her via 99 Luftballons and I looked up some of her other work! Wonderful singer ^^
GrowWear wrote...
Great introduction to someone I have never heard of before. :)
tandemonimom wrote...
We have 99 Luftballoons (German) on our iPod. My hubby always prefers the original language even if we don't understand it! Great lens on a great artist! 5*
And thanks for the Squid Blessings and very kind words on my Homeschool Quotes lens! :-)
Nenafanartikel wrote
Nena Fanartikel
verkaufe eine umfangreiche nena sammlung. darunter sehr *rare* nena vinyl schalltplatten mit hohen sammlerwert,die es niergens mehr zu kaufen gibt! aber im fanpaket sind auch CD,s DVD,s und vieles mehr.schaut es euch am besten einmal selbst an.leider ist dieses mega nena fanpaket nur komplett zu verkaufen.schickt mir eine email mit euren angeboten.
http://www.nenafanpage.h-page.de
GypsyGirl68 wrote...
I only knew of her work w/the band I used to loev the orig German version of 99 Luftballoons
So, okay, I confess, I fell in love with Nena when the song "99 Luft Balloons" went out and I was only 13 years old then, but hey, who could blame me? This girl's got a wonderful voice and her beauty made my heart beat slower & faster and the same time especially on that video where she's wearing tight blue jeans. Wow! That's why I'm so grateful for this lens or else I would have completely forgotten my affection for Nena. She still looks awesome! Just don't tell my wife, okay? By the way, thanks for sharing this lens. Please do visit this site that offers all kinds of checks from Penn State checks , LSU checks, photo checks (you can also put Nena's pictures on your checks)! Thanks again and it's 5 stars for you!
Keaka77 wrote...
I love nena to..Thanks for all that you do. Keep up the work..
cccna boot camp
rms wrote...
Love Nena! Thank you for the great addition to the 80s New Wave Alternative music group!
by Squidster

Squidster is a Small Business Web Consultant from Southern California who loves creating Squidoo lenses for your enjoyment. She is prou...
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