Hessen song
The Hessenlied is the anthem of the German state of Hessen . It is one of the regional anthems that are widely used in German-speaking countries . The song is protected as an official state symbol by Section 90a of the Criminal Code . Like the Bavarian anthem, in contrast to other regional songs such as the Badnerlied or Niedersachsenlied , it enjoys special protection against the denigration of the state and its symbols .
History of origin
Like most works of its kind, the Hessenlied originated in the Wilhelmine era . The melody for the Hessenlied was composed by Albrecht Brede , a music teacher from Besse from Kassel . The corresponding text was written by the well-known lyric poet Karl Preser during his lifetime .
The song was initially only distributed as one of the many patriotic choral works typical of the time, as an official "Prince Anthem " already existed in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Prussian hymn had to be sung on official occasions in the Hessian part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau . It was only after the end of the monarchy and the founding of the People's State of Hesse in 1919 that the song gradually acquired the character of a semi-official hymn and became known to a wider public through its inclusion in school song books.
During the time of National Socialism , the Hessian song, borne by a cheerful, nature-related and defensive patriotism, fell out of use as not conforming to ideology. It was not until 1951 that the newly elected Hessian Prime Minister Georg-August Zinn remembered the song and propagated the use of the piece as the Hessian national anthem. The background to this was Zinn's extensive efforts to create a common identity for the federal state of Hesse, which after 1945 was artificially combined from several historically and socially very differently developed regions. Unlike many of Zinn's ideas that arose in the same context, in particular the Hessentag as a state festival, the Hessen song never really became popular with the population. Even an action by the Hessian State Center for Political Education , which began in the 1950s and continued for decades , which distributed large editions of the Hessenlied free of charge to schools and other institutions, could not change anything.
The Hessen song can still be found in the repertoire of many Hessian choirs.
The Hessischer Rundfunk has recorded a pop version of the Hessen song. The interpreters are the two HR moderators Anna Lena Dörr and Tobias Kämmerer .
text
One of the peculiarities of the Hessenlied is the fact that there is no uniform, generally recognized text version. In the imperial era, for example, several different, partly regionally colored variants were circulating, all of which cite Preser as the author, so that the reconstruction of an "original version" seems difficult. In the official sheet music editions of the 1950s, a deliberately modified version was occasionally distributed, in which the religious elements were removed, but which had an error in the rhyme scheme . The following text version is the variant commonly used in choral editions without regional references.
1. I know a country, so rich and so beautiful,
the fields full of golden ears.
There, in the valley up to sunny heights,
fragrant, dark forests are green .
As a child I
sat there by my mother's hand in blossoms and flowers.
Howdy God, you home, you wonderful country.
Howdy, my dear state of Hesse!
2. Greetings to
the castles on the towering heights, the forests in the dawn,
the streams, the brazen cliffs,
rushing wildly around the foot of the valley!
Grüß 'Gott, where I once
sat on the brook beach in blooms and flowers.
Howdy God, you home, you wonderful country,
heart of Germany, my blooming Hessen!
3. Your tribe, which the primordial flood of the ages gave birth,
has stood firm in the storms
and bravely defied the danger of fate
when others were already writhing trembling.
So we want to shield
you Hort with hammer and sword , whose value
no enemy can measure who angrily denies you peace:
We are your shield, the strong state of Hesse!
4. Even if our deadline drifts away in dreams
and overturns what we have given you,
you will still see the morning of eternity,
mother will be his radiant life,
because the grandson proudly reigns in the heart of the fire that
once made us Own ancestors:
God greet you, home, pledge of bliss:
immortal fatherland Hesse!
The Hessian state government publishes the following version, which has the mentioned error: the word "Hessenland" used instead of "Hessen" at the end of the last lines of both stanzas does not fit into the meter and does not rhyme with "sat", but fits better to the melody.
1. I know a country, so rich and so beautiful,
the fields full of golden ears.
There are a
lot of dark, fragrant forests in the valley up to the sunny heights .
As a child I
sat there by my mother's hand in blossoms and flowers.
I greet you, you home, you wonderful country.
Heart of Germany, my blooming Hessenland.
2. From the Main to the Weser, Werra and Lahn,
a land full of blooming meadows,
the cities that we have all seen shine there and
are wonderful to see in the light.
As a child I
sat there by my mother's hand in blossoms and flowers.
I greet you, home, you wonderful country.
Heart of Germany, my blooming Hessenland.
literature
- Angus M. Fowler: The first known Hessen song - an expression of the patriotic feeling in the Landgraviate of Hessen around the middle of the 15th century. In: Hessische Heimat 24th year, 1974, Issue 1, pp. 34–50.