Elsbeth Johanna Irma Baltuttis (Lithuanian Baltutis, September 28, 1920 – May 20, 1958) was a German singer and entertainer based in Leipzig, Germany. After training in music during the Third Reich, her singing career took place within the German Democratic Republic after the Soviet occupation of the East Zone. She was known as a "hit diva".[1] She died after falling out of her apartment window in Leipzig. The death was officially classified as a suicide despite remaining doubts of the veracity.

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Life

Irma was born in the Leutzsch, district of Leipzig to Ernst Baltuttis and Elsa Hamann. Her talent was recognized early on by her parents, who encouraged her and saw it that she took training in music.

In the early 1950s, she married a medical doctor named Max Herricht. The couple had no children. The marriage can be perceived as not particularly successful : Herricht had a jealous streak, and Irma was said to flirt and entertain romantic relationships with musicians she worked with.

Baltuttis died on May 20, 1958. It was rumored that  her husband pushed her out of the window that she allegedly jumped out of to her death. This speculation was fueled by the post-mortem circumstances: no autopsy was performed, nor a coroner's inquest held. Supposedly her husband was remarkably taciturn about her death. Herricht was an important Communist Party member, and in a position to quash any official attention to Baltuttis's death.

Selected discography

• Ich Hab' Mich so an Dich Gewoehnt (I've become so accustomed to you)
  — her first hit, recorded in 1947 in Leipzig
• Leg´ deine Hand in meine Hand (with Hanns Petersen) - recorded in 1953 (Burger, S. Schmidt)
• Spatz und Spätzin (with Hanns Petersen) - recorded in 1953 (Helmut Nier)
• Wenn du wüsstest, ach, wie ich dich liebe (with Hanns Petersen) - recorded in 1951 (Rolf Zimmermann, Günter Klein)
• Wir sind füreinander bestimmt (with Hanns Petersen) - recorded in 1951 (Gerhard Winkler, Hase)
• Die Sonne Geht Schlafen (The Sun is Going Asleep)
  — written by Gerhard Froboess & Leo Breiten; recorded in July 1948 in Berlin
• Komm Mit Nach Saratow (Come With Me to Saratov)
  — written by Fradkin (trans. from the Russian by Helmut Kießling); recorded in August/September 1951 in Berlin
• Ganz Paris Träumt von der Liebe (All Paris Dreams of Love — original English title: I Love Paris)
  — written by Cole Porter (German lyrics by Kurt Feltz); recorded on March 28, 1955, in Leipzig.
• Die kleine Fischerhütte in Lugano (The Little Fishing Hut in Logano)
  written by Brandner & Breé; duet with Peter Cornehlsen; appears as track 10 in volume 1 of the collection Kurt Henkels und sein Orchester, in the series Die Grossen Deutschen Tanzorchester (The Great German Dance Orchestras)

References