Miss World beauty pageant in 1956 Petra Schurmann

Petra Schurmann won the 1956 Miss World contest, representing West Germany.As of 2012 she is the only German to win this title,with the exception of Gabriella Brum who won the title in 1980 but resigned one day later. The pageant was held in London, United Kingdom.Interestingly, Petra Schurmann only came third in the Miss Germany pageant, but was chosen to represent her country in London because of her better knowledge of English.At that time she studied philosophy and history of the arts at the universities of Bonn and Cologne.After winning her Miss World title she continued her studies in Munich.Beginning with the 1960s she entered an ongoing radio and television career, primarily with the Munich based Bayerischer Rundfunk.She also did some acting and wrote some books.