The forerunner to the Eurovision Song Contest had a rather unwieldy name: Gran Premio Eurovisione Della Canzone Europea. Swiss singer Lys Assia (pictured) won the first pan-European vocal contest. Denmark, Great Britain and Austria - today, ESC staples - missed the entry deadline and weren't able to participate. Freddy Quinn won the German preliminary, but garnered zero points in Lugano.

The finals for the Grand Prix Eurovision took place for the first time in Germany - in Frankfurt. According to new rules, duos and not just soloists were allowed to compete. Though the performance of Danish singers Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winkler raised eyebrows, it was Corry Brokken of Holland who took the prize. Germany's Margot Hielscher (pictured) came in fourth with "Telefon, Telefon."

It was Udo Jürgen's 1966 win with "Merci Cherie" that brought ESC to his home country, Austria, in 1967. There, Sandie Shaw took the stage barefoot for Great Britain with her cheerful number, "Puppet on a String," and won. Her prize was handed over by her predecessor, Jürgens. Germany managed to reach 8th place, represented by Inge Brück.

Germany sent Katja Ebstein (pictured) to Amsterdam in 1970. With an extremely short dress and the song "Wunder gibt es immer wieder" (Miracles happen again and again), she shot to third place, while Dana of Ireland took first. Her "All Kinds of Everything" became an international hit and she brought ESC to Dublin the following year, where Katja Ebstein once again took third for Germany.

Abba's unstoppable career began in Brighton and "Waterloo" went down in pop music history - not least with their sparkling outfits. That year, Ireen Sheer came in fourth for Luxembourg and Germany reached a disappointing 14th with Cindy and Bert.

A victory for Germany! Nicole won the hearts of the European juries with her innocent looks and message of peace. World peace happened to be a popular topic - but no one song about it quite as charmingly as Nicole, who accompanied herself on guitar. Her song, "Ein bisschen Frieden" (A bit of peace) was composed by ESC regular, Ralph Siegel.

In the Belgian capital, Irish singer Johnny Logan won ESC for the second time with "Hold Me Now." His first win came seven years earlier in The Hague with "What's Another Year." Logan was also able to rack up two wins as composer - first with "Hold Me Now" and then in Malmö in 1992 with "Why Me," sung by Irish contestant Linda Martin.

ESC was held for the third time in Ireland (which has since won a total of seven times). This time it was Norwegian ensemble Secret Garden which managed to claim first place with lots of strings and only 24 words of text. The German entry was selected by a radio broadcaster, rather than a public vote: The duo Stone & Stone came in last with just one point.

For Germany, Guildo Horn sang "Guildo hat euch lieb " (Guildo loves you), which had been written by the multi-talented television entertainer Stefan Raab. The funny text and dance-along song took seventh. This was the first year that viewers were allowed to vote by telephone, rather than relying only on a jury. The winner was Dana International, a transsexual performer from Israel.

According to a new rule, singers were allowed to perform in the language of their choice. Germany's entry, Sürpriz chose three languages: German, English and Turkish. Their "Reise nach Jerusalem" (Journey to Jerusalem) came in third. Corinna May had originally been selected to represent Germany, but was disqualified since her song had already been released. Charlotte Nilsson of Sweden took first.

As a composer, Ralph Siegel took part in the ESC - or Grand Prix d'Eurovision as it was called back then - for the first time in 1974 with a number for British singer Ireen Sheer. Over 40 years, the Munich-based songwriter would bring 22 songs into the finals. He was behind Nicole's winning song, "Ein bisschen Frieden" (A bit of peace) in 1982 and this year, 2015, he wrote San Marino's entry.

The Olsen Brothers from Denmark won with the feel-good song "Fly on the Wings of Love." Germany sent Stefan Raab himself with the disco number "Wadde hadde dude da?" and reached seventh place. In the national preliminaries, Raab's song beat out ESC legend Ralph Siegel - the first serious competition for the pro.

Since the turn of the millennium, eastern and southeastern European countries have developed a special interest in the contest and often tend to vote for each other. Here, sexy outfits and musical clichés are sure-fire point bringers. The Finns, on the other hand, go against the flow. They sent monster rockers Lordi - and won. Germany reached 14th place with country band Texas Lightning.

Stefan Raab and ESC became inseparable, and in 2010 he was behind the selection of teenage star Lena Meyer-Landrut. The 19-year-old from Hanover in the little black dress won the title and brought the contest to Dusseldorf in 2011.

On home terrority, Lena represented Germany once again, but only placed 10th. Italian jazz singer and pianist Raphael Gualazzi took second with a traditional song from his home country. But it was the Azerbaijani duo Ell & Nikki (pictured) that took the crown - and the contest to the Caspian Sea.

Folk-oriented girl group Elaiza performed for Germany in Denmark. They didn't officially win the preliminary country contest, but were chosen via the so-called wild card process at an extra concert. Extravagant Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst, a pop diva with a beard, won the contest. He has been vocal about promoting equality across Europe for all sexual preferences.