Anna German was of Russian, German, and Dutch origins. She was born in Urgench, a city with a population of 22,000 in northwestern Uzbekistan in Central Asia, then Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. Her mother, Irma Martens, was the descendant of Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites invited to Russia by Catherine II. Her father, Eugen (Eugeniusz) Hörmann (in Russian, Герман), was an accountant of German descent, born in Łódź, Poland. In 1937 during the NKVDs anti-German operation he was arrested in Urgench on false charges of spying, and executed (officially, sentenced for ten years in prison). Thereafter, Anna and her mother lived in Kemerovo Region, Tashkent, and later in the Kyrgyz and Kazakh SSR.

In 1946 she and her mother, who married an Ludowe Wojsko Polskie soldier, settled in Nowa Ruda, before moving to Wrocław in 1949.

Anna graduated from the Geological Institute of Wroclaw University. During her university years, she began her music career at the Kalambur theater. Anna finally became successful when she won the 1964 II Festival of Polish Songs in Opole with her song Tańczące Eurydyki. One year later, she won first prize in the international song contest in Sopot. She was invited to perform in Italy in the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival in 1967. In Italy Anna German survived a bad car crash, and fully came back to the stage only in 1972, after a long rehabilitation period.

On 23 March 1972 she married Zbigniew Tucholski. Their son, Zbigniew, was born on 27 November 1975. Anna performed in the Marché international de lédition musicale in Cannes, as well as on the stages of Belgium, Germany, USA, Canada and Australia. In the last years of her life she composed some church songs. She died of osteosarcoma in 1982, and was buried in Warsaw.

She also sang in Russian, English, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and German. In 2001 six of her Polish albums were reissued on CDs. In recent years many compilation albums of her songs have also been released in both Russia and Poland.