Alli Neumann
In her youth, Alli Neumann sang her songs in English. When friends said to her: “You should sing in German, that would be even cooler”, she didn’t really follow – until one day she spontaneously translated the lyrics of a song into German to show the others just how stupid it sounded. But it didn’t. She was struck by how the words now had a much more direct impact.
Alli Neumann has two native languages: German and Polish. Her Polish mother initially moved to her German father’s home country, but felt rather isolated there. She longed to return to the country where her friends and family lived. And so, little Alina-Bianca moved with her parents to a town near Rzeszów, the capital of the Carpathian Voivodeship in south-eastern Poland, shortly after her birth in Solingen. She has fond memories of her time in her mother’s homeland: “I loved my childhood in Poland”, she says. “We lived on a farm with all kinds of animals. And there were lots of children around and I actually lived all over the village: sometimes I had sleepovers at my aunt’s, sometimes with the neighbours’ children.” Alli Neumann treasures the memory of this carefree time full of effortless closeness to her parents, sisters, relatives, and friends. To this day, she relives the glorious days of her childhood whenever she is in Poland. She loves Polish music, the language, and the “beautiful cities that are so full of art and history”. She is also deeply impressed by the Solidarność movement, through which large sections of the Polish population practised peaceful protest for decades. Nowadays, Alli Neumann admires the tenacity with which women stand up for their rights as part of the “Strajk Kobiet” (“Women’s Strike”) in Poland.
Alli Neumann travels to Poland, where most of her family lives, at least once or twice a year. The singer also has friends in Warsaw and Kraków. Kraków in particular has a magical pull on her: “It’s the most inspiring city for me when it comes to writing,” she says and adds: “I love to sit in the café in Kazimierz and read or write.”
But the artist also feels at home in Germany. She is especially fond of the north and describes Hamburg as providing the perfect blend of “society in all its facets and Nordic serenity” and the Hanseatic mentality as “down-to-earth yet cosmopolitan”. Neumann finds the collaboration and friendship with people from a wide range of scenes and cultures very enriching, but would like to see Polish culture become more visible. She says: “It was only through Strajk Kobiet that I met new Polish friends in Germany. I think it would be great if we as a Polish community would also get together more often in a more light-hearted context.” According to Neumann, Poles often only practise their culture in private and present themselves as assimilated Germans in public. She dreams of a Polish festival in Hamburg: “Brodka, Quebonafide, Ofelia – everyone should perform there. And we’ll have zapiekanka and kvass on every corner!”
Anselm Neft, January 2022
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