Federal song for the General German Workers' Association
The federal song for the General German Workers' Association ( Bundeslied ) is based on a poem written by Georg Herwegh in 1863 .
He wrote the poem on the occasion of the founding of the General German Workers' Association , from which the SPD emerged years later , as a hymn to the revolutionary proletariat .
The music for the Federal Song of 1863 was composed by Hans von Bülow (under the pseudonym "Wilhelm Solinger") as a four-part choral setting with different versions for all stanzas. Around 1900 Peter Heinz composed the simpler melody that is the same for all stanzas and is generally sung today; which led Kurt Schwaen from a four-part choral writing, the 1955 New Volksliederbuch for mixed choir appeared at Edition Peters in Leipzig.
The federal song was soon banned and initially could only be distributed illegally. To this day it is considered one of the most famous German workers' fight songs.
Excerpt
Man of work, woke up!
And know your power!
All wheels stand still.
When your strong arm wants it.
[...]
Break the double yoke in two!
Break the misery of slavery!
Break the slavery of need!
Bread is freedom, freedom is bread!
Web links
- Complete text according to Herwegh at Zeno.org
- contemporary arrangement of the federal song (MP3; 3.8 MB)
- Who was this Herwegh? Day week , 2012
Individual evidence
- ^ Federal song of the General German Workers' Association for 4 male voices . By Georg Herwegh. Composed by Wilhelm Solinger. Th. P. Lißner, Zurich 1864.
- ↑ Inge Lammel : The workers song . Reclam, Leipzig 1973, p. 222.
- ↑ Inge Lammel: The workers song . Reclam, Leipzig 1973, p. 99.
- ↑ Also Carl grams set to music the poem. In: The Free Singer. Songs for four-part male choir . Edited by Carl Gramm. First series. Score edition. Issue 6. JHW Dietz Verlag Nachfl., Stuttgart 1890.
- ^ Helga Grebing : History of the German labor movement . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-423-00647-1 , p. 62.