Hein & Oss were a German folk-singing duo made up of twin brothers Heinrich “Hein” Kröher and Oskar “Oss” Kröher, both born in 1927 in Pirmasens, Germany. Hein died in 2016 and Oss in 2019. They were known as German Volkslied and Liedermacher artists, performing folk songs, workers’ songs, freedom songs, soldier songs, sea shanties, cowboy songs, and political songs.
Important albums and recordings include Songs of the World, Haul Away, Hein & Oss German Songs 1848/49, Hein & Oss singen Arbeiterlieder, Hein & Oss singen Freiheitslieder, Partisanenlieder, Halali, and Falado. Well-known songs include “Brüder, zur Sonne, zur Freiheit,” “Die Internationale,” “Die Arbeiter von Wien,” “Katjuscha,” “Trotz alledem,” and “Die Gedanken sind frei.” They are known for helping preserve and popularize democratic, political, and traditional German folk songs, and for performing for more than five decades in Europe and North America.