The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Südwestfunk (SWF), selected its entry through a national final.

The 1978 German final is notable for the fact that voting was to be split in a 2:1 ratio between an "expert" jury and a panel of radio listeners but after hearing the songs, the expert jury decided that none was up to par and refused to vote, leaving the choice entirely in the hands of the radio panel.

Südwestfunk (SWF) held the national final on 20 February 1978 at its studios in Baden-Baden, hosted by Detlef Werner and broadcast on radio only.

15 songs took part with the winner originally intended to be decided by a combination of expert jury and radio listeners.

Other participants in the final included Cindy & Bert (Germany 1974); Peter, Sue and Marc (Switzerland 1971, 1976, 1979, and 1981); and Helena Vondráčková, Czechoslovakia's premier female vocalist who had won the Intervision Song Contest in 1977.