Wilhelm Strienz

Wilhelm Strienz (2 September 1900 – 10 May 1987) was a German bass operatic singer.

Strienz was born in Stuttgart in 1910, and made his debut in 1922 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as the hermit in Weber's Der Freischütz. In subsequent years, he performed at the opera houses of Wiesbaden, Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart. His roles included Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust, van Bett in Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann, and numerous Wagnerian roles.

Between 1926 and 1933, Strienz worked for the newly founded Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. After the seizure of power in Germany by the Nazis in 1933, broadcasting director Ernst Hardt was dismissed but Strienz joined the S.A. and was engaged by the Berlin State Opera. In 1935, he recorded Deutsch sein heißt treu sein! (To be German is to be loyal) and Flieg', Deutsche Fahne Flieg'! (Fly, German flag) on the Electrola label,

Because of his great popularity, the Nazi regime called on him after the start of World War II to sing on the popular radio music show Wunschkonzert für die Wehrmacht (Request Concert for the Armed Forces), where he was particularly renowned for his rendition of Gute Nacht, Mutter (Good Night, Mother) by Werner Bochmann. From 1940, he recorded various other war songs as a soloist. In the final phase of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler included Strienz in the Gottbegnadeten list (list of those graced by God) as one of nine major concert singers in August 1944, exempting him from military service during the final stages of the war.

In the immediate post-war period, German broadcasters, especially in the Soviet occupation zone, boycotted Strienz since his name was associated with Nazi propaganda of the war years. He continued his singing career nonetheless, making successful tours and receiving a record contract from Decca. He ended his singing career in 1963 and retired into private life. Strienz died in Frankfurt am Main in 1987.