Die Wacht am Rhein
Encyclopedia
- For other uses of "die Wacht am Rhein" see Watch on the Rhine (disambiguation)Watch on the Rhine (disambiguation)Watch on the Rhine may refer to:* Die Wacht am Rhein, a German 1841 poem and 1854 song* Unternehmen: Wacht am Rhein, a German World War II offensive that resulted in the Battle of the Bulge...
. For the World War II German offensive, see Battle of the BulgeBattle of the BulgeThe Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
.
"Die Wacht am Rhein" (English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: The Watch/Guard on the Rhine) is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
patriotic anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
. The song's origins are rooted in historical conflicts with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
and the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In the Rhine Crisis of 1840, French prime minister Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
advanced the claim that the Rhine River should serve as France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's "natural eastern border". Germans feared that France was planning to annex the left bank of the Rhine, as it had sought to do under Louis XIV, and had temporarily accomplished during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
a few decades earlier. In the two centuries from the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
to the final defeat of Napoleon, the German inhabitants of these lands suffered from repeated major and minor French invasions (see French-German enmity
French-German enmity
French–German hereditary enmity is the idea of unavoidably hostile relations and mutual revanchism between Germany and France that became popular with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871...
).
Nikolaus Becker answered to these events by writing a poem called "Rheinlied", in which he swore to defend the Rhine. The Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
n merchant Max Schneckenburger
Max Schneckenburger
Max Schneckenburger was a German poet. The patriotic hymn "Die Wacht am Rhein" uses the text of a poem Schneckenburger wrote in 1840.Schneckenburger was born in Talheim near Tuttlingen, Württemberg...
, inspired by the German praise and French opposition this received, then wrote the poem "Die Wacht am Rhein".
In the poem, with five original stanzas, a "thunderous call" is made for all Germans to rush and defend the German Rhine, to ensure that "no enemy sets his foot on the shore of the Rhine" (4th stanza). Two stanzas with a more specific text were added by others later.
Unlike the older "Heil dir im Siegerkranz
Heil dir im Siegerkranz
"Heil dir im Siegerkranz" was from 1871 to 1918 the unofficial national anthem of the German Empire. Previously, it had been the anthem of Prussia, the melody of the hymn derived from the British anthem "God Save the Queen". For these reasons, the song failed to become popular within all of Germany...
" which praised a monarch, "Die Wacht am Rhein" and other songs written in this period, such as the "Deutschlandlied" (Germany's current national anthem) and "Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland?" (What is the German's Fatherland?) by Ernst Moritz Arndt
Ernst Moritz Arndt
Ernst Moritz Arndt was a German nationalistic and antisemitic author and poet. Early in his life, he fought for the abolition of serfdom, later against Napoleonic dominance over Germany, and had to flee to Sweden for some time due to his anti-French positions...
, called for Germans to unite, to put aside sectionalism and the rivalries of the various German kingdoms and principalities, to establish a unified German state, (not least) in order to be able to defend Germany.
Author Max Schneckenburger worked in Switzerland, and his poem was first set to music in Bern by Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
J. Mendel, and performed by tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Methfessel for the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
ambassador, von Bunsen. This first version did not become very popular. Schneckenburger died in 1849 and never heard the more famous tune.
When the musical director of the city of Krefeld
Krefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
, Karl Wilhelm
Karl Wilhelm
Karl Wilhelm, also Carl Wilhelm was a German choral director. He is best known as the composer of the song “Die Wacht am Rhein.”-Biography:...
, received the poem in 1854, he wrote a version of his own, and performed it with his men's choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
on June 11, the day of the silver anniversary of the marriage of Prinz Wilhelm von Preussen, who would later become German Emperor
German Emperor
This article is about the emperors of the German Empire. For full list of German monarchs before 1871, see List of German monarchs.The German Emperor was the official title of the Head of State and ruler of the German Empire, beginning with the proclamation of Wilhelm I as emperor during the...
Wilhelm I. This version was spread in song festivals.
In response to the Ems Dispatch
Ems Dispatch
The Ems Dispatch , sometimes called the Ems Telegram, caused France to declare the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870. The actual dispatch was an internal message from the Prussian King's vacationing site to Bismarck in Berlin, reporting demands made by the French ambassador; it was Bismarck's...
incident, which occurred in Bad Ems
Bad Ems
Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn...
, not far from the Rhine, France initiated the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1870. In the aftermath of the subsequent French defeat the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
was established in 1871. The song became famous, and both the composer and the family of the author were honoured, and granted an annual pension by Bismarck.
Today, the lands along the left bank of the Rhine between Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
are mainly part of Germany. The Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
and North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
are German federal states; Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and northern Lorraine
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
are parts of France with a German cultural element to them.
Text
The following is the complete text of the original five verses of the "Die Wacht am Rhein", plus additions:| German lyrics | Approximate translation | Verse translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st stanza | ||
Es braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall, wie Schwertgeklirr und Wogenprall: Zum Rhein, zum Rhein, zum deutschen Rhein, wer will des Stromes Hüter sein? |
A call roars like thunderbolt, like clashing swords and splashing waves: To the Rhine, the Rhine, to the German Rhine, who guards tonight my stream divine? |
The cry resounds like thunder's peal, Like crashing waves and clang of steel: The Rhine, the Rhine, our German Rhine, Who will defend our stream, divine? |
| Refrain | ||
|
Dear fatherland, put your mind at rest, dear fatherland, put your mind at rest, Firm stands, and true, the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine! Firm stands, and true, the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine! |
Dear fatherland, no fear be thine, dear fatherland, no fear be thine, Firm and True stands the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine! Firm and True stands the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine! |
| 2nd stanza | ||
Durch Hunderttausend zuckt es schnell, und aller Augen blitzen hell; der Deutsche bieder, fromm und stark, beschützt die heil'ge Landesmark. |
Through hundreds of thousands it quickly twitches, and everybody's eyes brightly flash; the German, respectable, pious, and strong, protects the sacred county border. |
They stand, a hundred thousand strong, Quick to avenge their country's wrong, With filial love their bosoms swell They shall guard the sacred landmark well. |
| 3rd stanza | ||
Er blickt hinauf in Himmelsau'n, wo Heldenväter niederschau'n, und schwört mit stolzer Kampfeslust: Du Rhein bleibst deutsch wie meine Brust! |
He looks up to the meadows of heaven, where ancient heroes glance down, and swears with proud pugnacity: You Rhine will remain German like my chest! |
He casts his eyes to heaven's blue, From where past heroes hold the view, And swears pugnaciously the oath, You Rhine and I, stay German, both. |
| 4th stanza | ||
Solang ein Tropfen Blut noch glüht, noch eine Faust den Degen zieht, und noch ein Arm die Büchse spannt, betritt kein Feind hier deinen Strand! |
As long as a drop of blood still glows, a fist still draws the sword, and one arm still holds the rifle, no enemy will here enter your shore! |
While still remains one breath of life, While still one fist can draw a knife, One gun still fired with one hand, No foe will stand on this Rhine sand. |
| Additional stanza inserted between 4th and 5th (Also sometimes inserted between the 3rd and 4th stanza) | ||
Und ob mein Herz im Tode bricht, wirst du doch drum ein Welscher nicht. Reich, wie an Wasser deine Flut, ist Deutschland ja an Heldenblut! |
And even if my heart breaks in death, You'll never ever become foreign territory. As rich in water is your flood, is Germany in heroes' blood. |
Should my heart not survive this stand, You'll never fall in foreign hand, Much, as your waters without end, Have we our heroes' blood to spend. |
| 5th stanza | ||
Der Schwur erschallt, die Woge rinnt die Fahnen flattern hoch im Wind: Am Rhein, am Rhein, am deutschen Rhein wir alle wollen Hüter sein. |
The oath rings out, the billow runs the flags wave high in the wind: On the Rhine, on the German Rhine we all want to be the guardian. |
The oath resounds, on rolls the wave, The banners fly high, proud, and brave, The Rhine, the Rhine, the German Rhine We all shall stand to hold the line! |
| Additional 7th stanza on war postcards of the First World War World War I World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918... |
||
So führe uns, du bist bewährt; In Gottvertrau'n greif' zu dem Schwert! Hoch Wilhelm! Nieder mit der Brut! Und tilg' die Schmach mit Feindesblut! |
So lead us, you are approved; With trust in God, grab the sword! Hail Wilhelm! Down with all that brood! Erase the shame with foes' blood! |
So lead us with your tried command, With trust in God, take sword in hand, Hail Wilhelm! Down with all that brood! Repay our shame with the foes blood! |
Usage in Germany
When Otto von BismarckOtto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
unified Germany
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
by defeating Denmark, Austria
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
and France
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
"Die Wacht am Rhein" was the second hymn of the German Empire.
From World War I through 1945 the "Watch on the Rhine" was one of the most popular songs in Germany, almost rivaling the "Deutschlandlied" as the de-facto national anthem. The song's title was also used as the codename for the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
German offensive in 1944 known today as the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
.
The so-called German-French hereditary hostility ended in 1963 with the Elysée Treaty
Élysée Treaty
Élysée Treaty also known as the Treaty of Friendship, was concluded by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in 1963. It set the seal on reconciliation between the two countries...
, so that the danger of a French invasion that loomed for centuries over Germany no longer existed. Today, the song has only historical significance in Germany and is rarely sung or played. However, singer Heino
Heino
Heino is a German singer of popular music and traditional Volksmusik....
has performed it on a record.
The expression Er/sie hat einen Ruf wie Donnerhall is used for describing someone who has a very strong, intimidating reputation.
The song's lyrics also appear on the 1883 Niederwalddenkmal
Niederwalddenkmal
The Niederwalddenkmal is a monument located in the Niederwald Landscape park, near Rüdesheim am Rhein in Hesse, Germany.- History :The monument was constructed to commemorate the foundation of the German Empire after the end of Franco-Prussian War. The first stone was laid on September 16, 1871, by...
monument located just outside of Rüdesheim am Rhein.
Stage and film
The song has figured in stage works and motion pictures.The tune is quoted near the end of César Cui
César Cui
César Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
's opera Mademoiselle Fifi
Mademoiselle Fifi (Cui)
Mademoiselle Fifi is an opera in one act, composed by César Cui during 1902-1903...
(composed 1902-1903), set in France during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
.
In Louis Milestone's 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front, the song is played at the end of the first scene as schoolboys, whipped into a patriotic frenzy by their instructor, abandon their studies and head off to enlist in the military.
In Jean Renoir's 1937 film La Grande Illusion, the two songs were juxtaposed in exactly the same way as in Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
five years later. In the latter film, "Die Wacht am Rhein" was sung by German soldiers, who then were drowned out by exiled French singing the "Marseillaise" (which originally was the "War Song for the Army of the Rhine", written and composed at the Rhine). Originally the "Horst-Wessel-Lied
Horst-Wessel-Lied
The Horst-Wessel-Lied , also known as Die Fahne hoch from its opening line, was the anthem of the Nazi Party from 1930 to 1945...
" was slated to be used in the scene as the German song, since it was at that time part of the de facto national anthem of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. However, the producers realized that the "Horst Wessel Lied" was under copyright protection. While it would not have been a problem in the United States, the UK or other Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
nations, a copyright dispute would have hurt or prevented showings in neutral nations which still upheld German copyrights. Therefore the producers of Casablanca went with "Die Wacht am Rhein".
The song provides the title for Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
's cautionary pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
play Watch on the Rhine.
In the first and second part of Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
's 1980 epic film adaptation of Alfred Döblin
Alfred Döblin
Alfred Döblin was a German expressionist novelist, best known for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz .- 1878–1918:...
's Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz (television)
Berlin Alexanderplatz, originally broadcast in 1980, is a 14-part television film adapted and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder from the Alfred Döblin novel of the same name, and stars Günter Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Elisabeth Trissenaar and Gottfried John...
, Franz Biberkopf starts singing the song (as in the novel).
The title of John Ringo
John Ringo
John Ringo is an American science fiction and military fiction author. He has had several New York Times best sellers. His books range from straightforward science fiction to a mix of military and political thrillers...
's Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel "Watch on the Rhine" is derived from the song (the book's plot deals with cannibalistic alien hordes landing in France and then advancing towards Germany, which must quite literally try to maintain a Watch on the Rhine).
Adaptations as an alma mater
The tune for the alma materAlma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, "Bright College Years
Bright College Years
Bright College Years is one of the traditional songs of Yale University, and often cited as the university's alma mater...
", was taken from Carl Wilhelm's "Die Wacht am Rhein", with new lyrics written by Henry Durand, a "Grey Friar" in Wolf's Head Society
Wolf's Head (secret society)
Wolf's Head Society is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Membership is recomposed annually of fifteen or sixteen Yale University students, typically juniors from the college...
, in 1881 to the "splendid tune".
The tune is also used by School Of The Holy Spirit Of Quezon City
School of the Holy Spirit
School of the Holy Spirit of Quezon City or SHSQC is a private all-girls Catholic school located in BF Homes, Quezon City, Philippines. The school is run by the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit, a congregation established by German saint, Arnold Janssen.-History:German diocesan...
(Philippines) for their Alma Mater Song, "SHS Hymn"
The tune was also used by Hotchkiss School
Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Founded in 1891, the school enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and a small number of postgraduates...
for their hymn "Fair Hotchkiss"
The tune is also used by Doshisha University
Doshisha University
, or is a prestigious private university in Kyoto, Japan. The university has approximately 27,000 students on three campuses, in faculties of theology, letters, law, commerce, economics, policy, and engineering...
for its school song, "Doshisha College Song"
External links
- http://ingeb.org/Lieder/esbraust.html "Die Wacht am Rhein" on ingeb.org (English)
- "Die Wacht am Rhein" on www.liedertafel.business.t-online.de, (text and sound files)
- Alexander MacGregor Rose (refrain translation)