The little trumpeter

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The little trumpeter was originally a song about a fallen comrade in the First World War . In the interwar period it became a sentimental political song . The song was cultivated in the GDR after the war , but with text changes due to the communist politics of the GDR. In this version it was also part of the repertoire of West German songwriters such as Hannes Wader .

Emergence

The original version of the song comes from Victor Gurski (* 1874; text) and Thomas Hagedorn (1871–1926; music) from 1915. It describes the death of the signal trumpeter Karl Gustav Ulbach (tram driver in Plauen , * 1885 in Gefell near Schleiz in Thuringia) on November 23, 1914 near St. Souplet in France. His grave is now in the Souain-Perthes-lès-Hurlus military cemetery .

The song, in the communist version that was made in 1925, deals with the fate of the Halle-based brush binder Friedrich August Weineck , better known as Fritz Weineck, who was born in 1897 . From 1924 he was a member of the Red Front Fighter League (RFB), a paramilitary task force of the KPD . Weineck was a horn player in a band of the RFB and died in a riot on March 13, 1925 when a police officer shot him. Weineck's death was used for propaganda purposes by the KPD, which led to the creation of the song from 1925, which was widely used. The melody was taken from the soldier's song Von alle Kameraden , the lyricist is unknown. According to contemporary witness reports, the verses “came from the people”.

Text and text changes

From all comrades original version Original version Horst Wessel version


None of
our comrades was so happy as our little trumpeter,
a young soldier's blood.

If we want to lose our courage,
sometimes in storm and night,
He
made us happy with familiar songs from home .

Often for our sake he has
forgotten his own misery,
A
defiant little song blown lurks around early death.

And when the bullet hit him in the
middle of a happy song, the little trumpeter passed away
with a happy smile
.


None of all comrades was so happy
as our little trumpeter -
A young hussar blood. -

If we want our courage to sink,
Sometimes in a stormy night -
He
made us strong with familiar songs from home .

Often for our sake he forgot
his own misery -
A defiant piece was blown,
surrounded by early death.

And when the bullet hit him in the
middle of the happy song -
With a happy smile
our little trumpeter parted.

So we took the spade
And dug a deep grave,
And those who loved it best,
They quietly lowered it. None of

all comrades
were so happy!
Farewell, you little trumpeter -
Farewell, hussar blood. -

Of all our comrades
, none was so kind and good
as our little trumpeter,
a merry Red Guard blood.

We sat together so happily
on such a stormy night, he made us so happy
with his freedom
songs.






Then an enemy bullet came
in such a happy game, our little trumpeter
with such a happy smile
, he fell.

So we took a pick and a spade
and dug a grave for him in the morning.
And those who loved him best,
quietly lowered him.

Sleep well, you little trumpeter,
we were all so good to you.
Sleep well, you little trumpeter,
you merry Red Guards blood.


None of our comrades was as nice and good
as our Sturmführer Horst Wessel,
a funny swastika blood.

We sat together so happily
on such a stormy night; he made us so happy
with his freedom
songs.






Then came a hostile bullet
from the hand of a red murder boy,
Horst Wessel, you gave your life
for freedom and fatherland.

SA comrades in Berlin
who sadly dug his grave for him.
And those who loved him best,
quietly lowered him.

Sleep well, Sturmführer Horst Wessel,
your death made us strong.
The flags flutter in the dawn,
Sieg Heil roars over the battle.

original version

The original version of the song from August 1915. The text was created by Victor Gurski (* 1874) and the melody by Thomas Hagedorn (1871–1926).

Original version

The version from 1925 - after the death of Fritz Weineck - consisted of five stanzas:

Horst Wessel

In the 1930s, the song was used by the Nazis to Horst Wessel vice writes the lyrics. Wessel was gunned down in his apartment on January 13, 1930 by Albrecht Höhler , a member of the RFB , and died on February 23, 1930 in Berlin.

Left-hand terminology such as "Red Guards blood" was repositioned to "Swastika blood", the text passage "in such a happy game" of verse 3 became "from the hand of a red murder boy". The song lost its sentimental character and now ended with the slogan: " Sieg Heil it roars over the battle".

The Little Trumpeter in the GDR

In the GDR , the song was extended by a stanza by the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB):

You have not fallen in vain
, we have now completed your work.
We built the state that
brought freedom and peace to all of us .
Let us proudly ring out our cry:
Long live workers' power!

The text of the new verse is longer, as the second half of the original verse is repeated while the attached verse is sung through. In addition, the “… blissful smile” in the third stanza has been replaced by “with a bold smile”.

Thälmann pioneers in front of the Fritz Weineck monument in Halle, inaugurated the same year, 1958

Weineck was officially glorified in the GDR, the song and his person were revered:

  • Streets, schools and squares in the GDR were named after Fritz Weineck.
  • The song The Little Trumpeter was learned by heart by the students of the Polytechnic Oberschule (POS) in grades 1 to 3.
  • 1958 took place in the context of the III. Pioneer meeting in Halle (Saale) renaming the Rive -Ufers the Saale in Weineck-shore. There the “Trumpeter Monument” was erected, which was used for the pioneering organization's flag roll calls . Since 1992 the bank has been called Rives again, and a stele erected there in 1998 with a bronze portrait commemorates the former mayor. The Weineck statue is now in the permanent exhibition on the city's history in the Halle city museum .
  • In 1964 the DEFA film The Song of the Trumpeter by Konrad Petzold was made .
  • The paperback series The Small Trumpeter Books was published by Kinderbuchverlag Berlin . The story about Weineck was published as Volume 1 of the series ( The Little Trumpeter and His Friend by Inge and Gerhard Holtz-Baumert , 1959).
  • Erich Honecker wanted the song to be played on his grave.

West Germany

The West German songwriter Hannes Wader also used an attached sixth stanza, which thematically links to the song Die Internationale :

You women of all the earth,
you brothers, are always ready!
We will not rest, we will not rest
until the world is freed from misery.

The song is no longer part of Hannes Wader's repertoire .

Remarks

  1. ↑ The term Red Guards blood does not refer to one of the organizations known as the Red Guard , but is a poetic paraphrase of a member of the Red Front Fighter League .

literature

  • District commission for research into the history of the local workers' movement and district party archives at the SED district management hall (ed.): From all our comrades ... The little trumpeter and his time. Hall 1967.
  • Barbara Felsmann: I always cried with the little trumpeter: childhood in the GDR, memories of the young pioneers. Lukas, 2003, ISBN 3-931836-55-X .
  • Sebastian Merkel: March 13, 1925 in Halle (Saale). Police violence and the emergence of a political martyr. In: Saxony-Anhalt Memorials Foundation (Ed.): Remember! Task, opportunity, challenge. 1/2014, Magdeburg, pp. 33–47.
  • Dirk Schumann: Political Violence in the Weimar Republic 1918–1933. Fight for the streets and fear of civil war. Essen 2001, p. 230 ff.
  • Sieglinde Siedentop: Music lessons in the GDR. Augsburg: Wißner, 2000, ISBN 3-89639-188-7 , pp. 334-349. (Case analysis "The Little Trumpeter")
  • Simone Trieder: A palace for workers. 100 years of Volkspark Halle. Halle (Saale) 2007, pp. 33-39.

Fiction:

  • Otto Gotsche : Our little trumpeter. Novel. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 1961 and Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin 1962.
  • Inge and Gerhard Holtz-Baumert : The little trumpeter and his friend. (The small trumpet books, vol. 1), children's book publisher, Berlin 1959.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Armin Görtz: The true little trumpeter . In: Dresdner Latest News . January 30, 2015, p. 3 (Text also appeared in other publications by Madsack-Verlag , for example in the Leipziger Volkszeitung from January 30, 2015, p. 3, the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung from February 21, 2015, see online press review: The true little trumpeter ).
  2. ^ HC Grünefeld: The revolution is marching . tape 2 . Reinhard Welz Vermittler Verlag, Mannheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-86656-323-0 , p. 542 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ From all comrades. Retrieved on May 3, 2018 (old text reference; stored in a song text collection).
  4. ^ V. Gurski: Remembrance of St. Souplet November 1914 . Leipzig Latest News , February 26, 1915.
  5. ↑ a b c The Little Trumpeter. In: Ingeb.org. Retrieved March 7, 2015 (texts of both versions from 1925 and from the 1930s).
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Steinitz: German folk songs of a democratic character from six centuries . tape 2 . Verlag Das Europäische Buch, Berlin 1979, ISBN 3-88436-101-5 , pp. 538 .
  7. ↑ a b Come on, sing along . 7. edit Edition. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1960, DNB  452520339 (verses 1–5 from 1925, Red Front Fighter Association; verse 6 from the Free German Trade Union Confederation (FDGB)).
  8. ↑ The forgotten little trumpeter . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . March 13, 1995.