Swabian customer
The Swabian Customer is a hero ballad by Ludwig Uhland from 1814.
In later times it was also known under the title Der wackere Schwabe .
background
Emperor Friedrich I, known as Barbarossa , went on the Third Crusade and drowned in the Saleph River in 1190 .
content
The ballad begins with the following verses:
When Emperor Rotbart came
to the holy land
with praise , he and the pious army had to go
through a deserted mountain range.
Great trouble arose there.
There were many stones and little bread.
And many a German rider
has done the drink there.
The horses got so weak in the stomach that
the rider almost had to carry the mare.
On the train to the Holy Land, the army has to cross mountains and deserts. A knight from Swabia, whose horse is sick, lags behind the army. Suddenly he sees himself surrounded by fifty Turkish horsemen, but he continues unconcerned until a Turk attacks him. "The German has his blood too" and he splits the rider into two parts:
On the right you can see
half a Turk sinking down on the left . "
The other Turks flee frightened. When asked by the emperor who would have taught him such pranks, he replied:
“The pranks are in swirl with us;
They are known throughout the empire,
they are just called Swabian pranks. "
comment
Several phrases from this poem have become popular words :
- There were many stones and little bread.
- The brave Swabian is not afraid
- Swabian coup
In the only surviving sound document of Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , the 74-year-old quotes from 1889, among other things, from the Swabian customer .
literature
Edgar Neis: “Interpretations of 66 ballads, moritos and chansons”. Analysis and Comments. Hollfeld: Bange-Verlag, 1978. ISBN 3-8044-0590-8
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sensational sound recordings - this is how Bismarck sounded! on one day ( Spiegel Online ) from January 31, 2012.
