A time has come for us

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A time has arrived for us was originally a carol song from Switzerland and has found various textual traditions in German-speaking countries over the years. As a Christmas carol it was included in some regional editions of the Protestant hymn book in 1993/94 and was therefore part of the spiritual hymns . A repositioning of the text that the National Socialists wrote for the song book “German War Christmas” in 1939 has made the song into a winter song “stripped of all Christian reference [...]” . This variant of the song is still the most widespread.

Customs and melody

The popular tune ? / i of the song comes from the tradition of the carol singers in the Swiss Wiggertal in the canton of Lucerne . There the song came up in the 19th century. The folk song collector Alfred Leonz Gaßmann (1876–1962) reported in 1906 about the custom of the Epiphany , where the singers went from house to house in the evening and proclaimed the birth of Jesus Christ with this song. A singer ("Sterndreher") carried a star, which was covered with different colored paper and with a candle glowing from the inside made an impressive picture. Derived from the star bearer, the song was also called "Sterndreherlied" in Switzerland. The star singing custom in the Wiggertal was practiced until the end of the 19th century, but then became extinct. Audio file / audio sample

text

Christmas carol

19th century / Canton of Lucerne

Two variants of the Wiggertaler Sternsingerlied have been handed down in the second and third stanzas, from Uffikon and from Buchs :

Verse 1:
A time has arrived for us,
it is a great grace for us,
because a child is born
and who was the highest King,
Our Savior Jesus Christ,
who for us, who for us,
who for us man has become.

 

Verse 2 (Uffikon):
Herod was so
annoyed that he didn't like it.
Because it was in the hard manger
, which was still a rock:
between ox and donkey
you lie poor, you lie poor little Jesus.

Verse 3 (Uffikon):
He has to lie in the manger
and if it were the hardest rock:
Between ox and donkey
you lie poor, you lie poor little Jesus.

Verse 2 (Buchs):
The wise men, they already came to travel,
they came from the Orient.
A star that would accompany you beautifully
and lead you to Bethlehem.
They kneeled in front of the child,
great sacrifice, great sacrifice they made.

Verse 3 (book):
The kings came to visit him,
the star leads them to Bethlehem,
they laid crown and scepter on him,
great sacrifice, great sacrifice they offered.

1902 / Canton of Aargau

The song was sung in the High German language, but also in the dialect version. Such a text form comes from the Swiss canton of Aargau , where Otto von Greyerz found it. The stanzas from the Wiggertal get every six additional verses in dialect coloring. Here the melody was also a different one.

Verse 1:
A time has arrived for us
it brings us a great grace:
Our Savior Jesus Christ,
who became man for us, who for us,
who for us.
The shepherds of the field
run so fast.
They run and jump
and mange hears singing:
Honor God in the heights
and peace be on earth!

Verse 2:
Infant Jesus lay in the manger
on a hard rock.
Between ox and esulein.
Oh you poor, oh you poor,
oh you poor little Jesus.
Oh God, have mercy!
How poor is Mother!
She has no pan
to cook for the little child,
no bread and no salt,
no butter and no lard.

Verse 3:
Three kings came to travel here.
They came from the Orient.
A star would accompany them
and lead them to, lead them to,
lead them to Bethlehem.
In the Orient,
it's so cold there.
It must freeze to death
and lose its temper.
But d 'mother, au no so poor,
she keeps d's chindli warm.

Verse 4:
Above a stable, there the star was silent.
They went into the dark room;
knelt before the child; They made
great sacrifice, great sacrifice,
great sacrifice.
"We arrive here, that's
what we wish you for:
a good, happy,
healthy and happy,
a happy new year,
that's what we wish you."

1957 / Maria Wolters

In the second half of the 20th century, the Swiss carol song also appeared in Germany. When Gottfried Wolters wanted to include the song in his Christmas folk song collection in 1957, the original text had already been stripped of its content by the form of Paul Hermann. His wife Maria Wolters (1910–2006) added eight new stanzas to the first stanza from the Wiggertal. In this form, the song found its way into regional editions of the Evangelical Hymnal in 1993/94 :

In the Evangelical Hymn book, the first stanza is sung again after the ninth stanza.

1966 / Catholic youth

From 1966 there is another three-verse text form in a Catholic songbook that does not unfold the story of Jesus' birth in the same way as the text form of Maria Wolters, but adapts closely to the original song.

Winter song

In 1939 the music teacher Paul Hermann (1904–1970) wrote a version that describes an idyllic winter landscape but shows no religious reference. This is not about the "grace" of the birth of Jesus Christ, but about the "joy" of winter nature. The intention of this text form corresponded to the National Socialist ideology, which sought to erase everything Christian, including in Christmas carols. The text is thus an “example of the counterfactoring methods used by the Nazi songwriters”. Despite this background, Paul Hermann's text is far better known than the original Swiss star singing song - although both text versions are printed in some song books - because the text underlay fits the melody exactly and Christian content remains unspoken, but is conceivable (the "joy" of first stanza can also refer to the great Christian event). When in November 2018 the use of the NS variant in the school songbook "Sing & Swing" became known, which is used in many schools in Austria and Germany, this text, described by the publisher as "completely harmless", aroused amazement and criticism the lack of control of the textbook. Rolf Zuckowski sang Paul Hermann's version with his colorful children's choir.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gilbert Weisbier: carolers upset over Nazi text textbook . November 15, 2018 ( kurier.at [accessed November 15, 2018]).
  2. ↑ a b Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann : The book of Christmas carols . Schott, Mainz 1982, ISBN 3-7957-2061-3 , p. 232f.
  3. ↑ The folk song in Lucerne's Wiggertal and hinterland. Collected from the people's mouth and edited by AL Gaßmann , Basel, 1906
  4. ↑ In the Rösligarte. Swiss folk songs , ed. by Otto von Greyerz, Bern, 1912
  5. ↑ In the middle of the night. The Christmas story in a folk song , Wolfenbüttel, 1957
  6. ^ Edition for Lower Saxony / Bremen, No. 543; Issues Rhineland-Westphalia-Lippe and Reformed Church, No. 545
  7. ↑ the colorful boat. Songs for Boys and Girls , ed. by the headquarters of the German Catholic Youth, Freiburg, 1966³
  8. ^ Catalog entry on Paul Hermann at the German National Library
  9. ↑ first printed in Georg Blumensaat's collection Das Kindelwiegen. A Christmas singing and performance book , 1939
  10. ↑ Nike Laurenz, Armin Himmelrath: School books contain questionable passages from the Nazi era. Spiegel Online, November 21, 2018
  11. ↑ Gilbert Weisbier: Christmas song with Nazi text in current textbooks . November 14, 2018 ( kurier.at [accessed November 16, 2018]).