The most powerful king in the air reserve
The most powerful king in the air reserve , also known as the pirate song, is a folk song that has been documented since 1915 and gained particular popularity during the First World War as a kind of unofficial anthem for German submariners . Because of formulations that were added during the Nazi dictatorship and that can be interpreted in a national-chauvinistic way, the singing of the song by soldiers of the Bundeswehr is controversial.
content
In the first stanza the pirate way of life is glorified and equated with a prey-beating eagle and a fear-inducing lion. In the tone refrain, the pirates celebrate themselves as rulers of the seas. The second stanza describes the attack on a merchant ship and the fear of the civilian sailors when the red pirate flag is raised. In the third stanza the boarding battle with weapons of the age of muskets is described. The reference to a "hostile" flag, although the language was previously used by a merchant ship, suggests piracy. In the fourth and last verse, the pirates' journey into hell is anticipated, whereby they want to remain fearless and fearless even there.
reception
The song was sent in in 1915 to the soldiers' song collection of the German Folk Song Archive in Freiburg without the fourth stanza . The author of the letter signed as B. Geiser and stated that he was serving as deck officer. He commented on the song: "People love to sing". After the First World War the song was also widespread among the Bündische Jugend and can be found in the St. Georg songbook of German youth in 1935. During the Nazi dictatorship, the song was promoted and rewritten by the regime. The “Princes of the World” in the first tone refrain in the NS version became the “Lords of the World”. The text of the song was also rewritten by the SA in such a way that it was a mockery of the then Jewish Police President of Berlin, Dr. Bernhard "ISIDOR" became white. In 1939 the new text was published in the SA and VDA song collections . After the Second World War, The Mightiest King in the Luftrevier is documented among other things in the songs of the Boy Scout Movement and included in the popular song book Die Mundorgel . In 1968 the song was included on the LP "... and longing accompanies us" by pop singer Heino. In Belgium, the song is popular in a Flemish version as part of academic cantus recitals.
After the Second World War, the most powerful king in the aviation area was also included in the armed forces' songs. So it can be found in 1983 in the songbook of the paratroopers and in 1991 in the official songbook of the Bundeswehr Kameraden singt! After the ARD culture report broadcast a report on the history of the hit song Lili Marleen and the armed forces' songs on November 25, 2001 , the text of the pirate song was also controversially discussed. Above all, there was criticism that the Bundeswehr had not adopted the original version, but the version with the text rewritten during the Nazi dictatorship.
Text of the version documented in 1915
The mightiest king in the air territory
Is the storm's mighty Aar.
The birds tremble when they only hear
His rustling pair of wings.
When the lion roars in the desert,
The animal army trembles.
Yes, we are the princes of the world
The kings of the sea.
Tirallala, tirallala
Tirallala, tirallala
hoi! hoi!
If a ship appears on the ocean,
We cheer happily and wildly;
Our proud ship shoots like an arrow
through the roaring waves.
The merchant trembles with fear and pain,
the sailors lose their courage,
And then our
flag rises on the swaying mast , as red as blood.
Tirallala, tirallala
Tirallala, tirallala
hoi! hoi!
We pounce on the enemy ship
like a loose arrow.
The cannon thunders, the musket
cracks, the cutlass rattles loudly,
And the enemy flag, it is already falling.
Then we hear our cry of victory:
Long live the roaring sea,
Long live piracy!
Tirallala, tirallala
Tirallala, tirallala
hoi! hoi!
Additional fourth stanza
And when the last shot is done,
When the bloody battle is over,
So we steer our rotten boat
Into hell frankly and freely.
And if the devil doesn't like it,
eh, we heat ourselves up.
We were the masters of the world
and still want to be with the devil!
Tirallala, tirallala
Tirallala, tirallala
hoi! hoi!
</ poem
SA - Version (around 1930)
The most powerful king of Greater Berlin
that is ISIDOR Weiss
But Dr. Goebbels, the
chief bandit, he's
already making hell for him.
His own SCHUPO, which takes him in front of
you, you can hear it up to the Brandenburg Gate.
He calls himself Dr. Bernhard Weiß but he remains the ISIDOR
literature
- Franz Wegener: Barth in National Socialism , 2016, p. 108, footnote 1.
- Josef Selmayr: A grain of sand in the storm: Notes of a soldier 1905–1945 , p. 366, footnote 91.
supporting documents
- ^ Description on the website of the Volksliedarchiv Freiburg
- ↑ Susann Witt-Stahl: "... we are the masters of the world", November 19th, 2001 on the website of the newspaper Neues Deutschland
- ↑ H. Denckler: 100 selected SA Sturm- u. Marching songs, 1939
- ^ Volksbund für das Deutschtum Abroad: VDA Lieder, Berlin 1939
- ↑ Peter Neesen: Handwritten Reader, around 1951
- ↑ Corbach, Dieter; Iseke, Ulrich; Wieners, Peter (ed.): The mouth organ. Cologne; Boppard: Mundorgel Verlag; Fidula Verlag, 1968, 3rd exp. u. revised New edition, no.202.
- ↑ History of publication at hitparade.ch
- ↑ information from Jacob D'herd from the KU Leuven
- ↑ Press release of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg on "Comrades sings!" from June 16, 2017
- ^ "Lili Marleen" and the songs of the Bundeswehr - article on the website of the Federal Peace Council