Santiano is a German band from the northern region of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, whose genres include Irish folk, sea shanty, and schlager music. The name Santiano is taken from the Hugues Aufray song of the same name. They topped the German, Austrian, and Swiss charts in the mid 2010s. 　　History 　　The idea for the band originated with German producer Hartmut Krech of Flensburg, who owns the Elephant Music label. On 3 February 2012, the band appeared at We Love Music, an event promoted by Universal Music and ProSiebenSat.1 Media. Their first album, titled Bis ans Ende der Welt ('To the end of the earth'), was released in 2012. It reached in the German charts. That same year, the group completed a European tour, including a performance at the Wacken Open Air festival. A live CD/DVD of the event was released in November 2012. 　　In 2013 and 2014, they received an Echo award for best Folk music. Santiano appeared as an opening act for Helene Fischer's 2013 summer tour, and toured Germany from November 2013 to April 2014. 　　Their second studio album, Mit den Gezeiten ("With the tides"), was released in 2013 and reached in the German charts. This album contains more rock elements than "Bis ans Ende der Welt" but still draws upon themes surrounding the sea and North German myths. 　　In 2014, they participated in Unser Song für Dänemark, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the songs Wir werden niemals untergehen and Fiddler on the Deck. Had they been chosen to represent their home country, they would have gone with Wir werden niemals untergehen, but they were eliminated in Round 2 of the final. 　　Their third studio album, Von Liebe, Tod und Freiheit ("On love, death and freedom") was released in May 2015 and provided the band with another album in Germany. As its title suggests, deeper themes are addressed in the lyrics of this album but this is offset by a number of folk-based songs which promote the importance of camaraderie and togetherness when dealing with such themes. 　　The band appeared for a fourth time at the Wacken Open Air festival in 2015 and are continuing to tour into 2016.