Wikipedia:
Franz Grothe (* September 17, 1908 in Berlin; † September 12, 1982 in Cologne; full name Franz Johannes August Grothe) was among the most popular German composers and conductors of the 20th century. Since the beginning of the ''talkies'', he composed many melodies and hit songs.
Grothe's father was a pianist, his mother a concert singer. At the age of five, the boy received violin lessons. A year later he began to play the piano. His first compositions were written by the time he was ten. The talented musician enrolled to study at the Berlin Academy of Music.
After a first collaboration with the then Berlin operetta composer Hugo Hirsch in the summer of 1925, Grothe arranged his revue ''Wieder Metropol'' in September 1926, in which he sat at the piano and contributed a jazz suite. Dajos Béla then hired him as a pianist and arranger with the Dajos Béla Orchestra, which at the time released exclusively on the Lindström brand Odeon. Here Grothe was able to use his skills in the arrangements of the pieces and also perform his own compositions.
At the end of the 1920s, Franz Grothe had his breakthrough when the tenor Richard Tauber sang his composition, the song ''Rosen und Frau'n'' (Roses and Women). Further recordings with Tauber followed. Grothe created his first film music for the 1929 film ''Die Nacht gehört uns'' (The Night Belongs to Us). In 1931, he had his own music publishing company, Edition Franz Grothe, which had to be abandoned in 1933 when his Jewish business partners emigrated.
After the National Socialists seized power, he joined the NSDAP (German Nazi Party) in May 1933 (membership number 2,580,427). Grothe's companion in the 1930s was Anna "Niuta" Joffe, the stepdaughter of Gregor Rabinovitch, a successful film producer in France and Germany. When Rabinovitch, pressured by the Film Chamber, left Berlin and went to the U.S. via Vienna and Paris, he got Grothe a contract with Universal Film Studios in Hollywood through Paul Kohner, temporarily head of Deutsche Universal, and Universal founder Carl Laemmle. While Grothe embarked for America in May 1936, the structures that were supposed to push him in Hollywood disintegrated. Grothe was employed thanks to his contract, but his English was poor and he did not get along with the American studio system. In December 1936, Grothe traveled back to Europe, presumably with the Rabinovitchs. In the fall of 1937, he worked in Vienna with Marta Eggerth, who had also returned from the United States, and composed the film music for ''Immer wenn ich glücklich bin''. In May 1938, he married in Oslo the Norwegian actress and singer Kirsten Heiberg, whom he had met in Vienna in November 1937. After the couple separated in the summer of 1951 and Heiberg returned to Norway, they divorced in April 1960.
During World War II, he composed film music as well as "Durchhaltelieder" such as 1941 ''Wir werden das Kind schon schaukeln'' and 1942 ''Wenn unser Berlin auch verdunkelt ist''. In 1942, Grothe made a career leap in the Nazi hierarchy: he became deputy "Fachschaftsleiter Komponisten" of the Reichsmusikkammer, broadcasting group leader "Gehobenere Unterhaltungsmusik und Operette" at the Großdeutscher Rundfunk and artistic director of the ''Deutsches Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester''. The state orchestra, which consisted of 32 members and was sponsored by the broadcasting company, united top musicians of German dance music and, in addition to works of modern rhythmic entertainment music, also presented remarkable swing arrangements that showed recognizable similarities to comparable international bands. Grothe and his co-conductor Georg Haentzschel found themselves increasingly accused by their superiors and other official Nazi authorities of not complying with applicable musical guidelines. The situation escalated, and on January 31, 1944, both orchestra directors were dismissed by personal order of Joseph Goebbels and replaced by Barnabás von Géczy and Willi Stech. The subsequently declared intention of both musicians to now also make their radio offices available as broadcasting group leaders was strictly forbidden by another order of the Minister of Propaganda. In 1944, Grothe was on the ''Gottbegnadeten'' list of the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda.
In February 1945, Grothe traveled with his wife to Radstadt in the Austrian Hohe Tauern for the filming of the movie ''Die Puppe''. Via Munich, the Grothe couple arrived in Murnau, where they experienced the end of the war on the Feder estate. In May 1946, he underwent the denazification process of the Americans at his place of residence in Murnau. He answered all questions truthfully, but stated that he had not been a member of the NSDAP. The discovery of the card in the Berlin membership file, which contained his name, address, profession and membership number, led to the revocation of his previously issued work permit. In the fall of 1946, an American military court sentenced him to a fine of RM 10,000. He was not allowed to work as a composer or orchestra leader in an official capacity until a ''Spruchkammer'' trial was held. In the months that followed, he toured the country with his wife and other artists such as Grethe Weiser, playing the piano in barns and gymnasiums. After a Spruchkammer hearing in Weilheim, Upper Bavaria in April 1948, he received a non-affected (NB) card on April 21, 1948. With this, he immediately applied for a job at ''Funk und Film'' in Hamburg. In June 1948, the Licensing Adviser of the Information Services Division in Weilheim inquired why Grothe had received a NB card despite his party membership, demanded the withdrawal of this card and a reopening of the proceedings before the main chamber in Munich. The statement of claim of the main chamber in Munich of September 1949 demanded that Grothe be classified in Group II (incriminated persons). Grothe claimed to the end that he "had not knowingly been a member of the party" and tried to prove this with character witnesses, such as the Jewish wife of his copyist Borgers, Karl Wilczynskis or Grothe's film arranger Alfred Strasser, who was classified as a Nazi persecutor, who described him as having an impeccable character and even a critical attitude towards the regime. The court finally classified him as a Nazi Party follower (Group IV) and sentenced him to pay an expiation of 500 DM and to bear the costs of the proceedings. From 1950 onward, he succeeded in seamlessly continuing his film work, including a series of films with Curt Goetz and Ruth Leuwerik, for which Grothe wrote the music. The instrumental composition ''Mitternachts-Blues'' (Midnight Blues), written in 1956, became his greatest international success, reaching million-seller status in 1958. He got on particularly well with the director Kurt Hoffmann and set several of his films to music at the end of the 1950s. In 1960, he wrote the music for the numerous songs in the feature film ''Heldinnen'' with Marianne Koch, Johanna von Koczian, Paul Hubschmid and others.
From 1965, television became his profession. In the entertainment program ''Zum Blauen Bock'', he took over the musical direction as conductor until his death in 1982 and wrote over 400 songs with Heinz Schenk, including for Rudolf Schock, Erika Köth, Renate Holm, Ernst Hilbich and Willy Hofmann.
Franz Grothe wrote the music for around 170 films between 1929 and 1969. His oeuvre also features Viennese and Hungarian music and swinging jazz. By 1945 he had already set 71 films to music, and after the Second World War he was able to continue this series. The musical ''Das Wirtshaus im Spessart'' (1977) and several operettas bear witness to his wealth of ideas. His trumpet solo from the film ''Immer wenn der Tag beginnt'' - the midnight blues blown in the film ''Billy Mo'' - became an evergreen.
From his relationship with Anneliese Metzner (1913-1963), he became the father of a daughter, Karin, in 1957, whom he brought to Bad Wiessee and adopted after the death of her mother in 1963. In 1966 he married Karin Steinohrt, née Eckert (1920-1988) in his second marriage.
In 1960, the composer established the Franz Grothe Foundation in Bad Wiessee, which is dedicated to supporting capable and needy composers and musicians and to keeping the memory of the founder alive. The archives of the Franz Grothe Foundation are located in Berlin.
At the copyright society GEMA, Grothe assumed the office of chairman of the supervisory board in 1972.
On September 10, 1982, he collapsed during a concert performance in Cologne and died two days later as a result of an aortic rupture. The composer's final resting place was the mountain cemetery in Bad Wiessee, his last place of residence.
On the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2008, the WDR organized a commemorative concert "Auf den Flügeln bunter Träume" ("On the Wings of Colorful Dreams") in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall in 2009, featuring his works. In June 2019, on the occasion of his 110th birthday, there was a concert in his former place of residence Bad Wiessee with his works and conversations with contemporary witnesses and his biographers.
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
