Where courage and strength blaze in the German soul

Where courage and strength flames in the German soul is a student song from 1813. The song was written during the wars of liberation against Napoleon's foreign rule. With a bellicose and patriotic impetus , it can still be found today in the general German Kommersbuch of student associations .

history

The melody of the song is based on a French song by Souvent ( Le Voltigeur Française. Mouvement de Marche. Le Chant, Luth in C # ). The opening stanza read:

French	German
Brûlant d'amour et partant pour la guerre, Le casque en tête et la lyre à la main, Un troubadour à sa jeune bergère, En s'éloignant répétait ce refrain: Mon bras à ma patrie, Mon cœur à mon amie, Mourir content pour la gloire et l'amour, C'est le refrain du joyeux troubadour!	Inflamed by love and ready for war, the helmet on his head and the lyre at hand, a troubadour sang as he departed, His shepherdess the following refrain: My hand belongs to the fatherland, My heart to my beloved, For fame and love satisfied to die, Is the refrain of the merry troubadour!

Its melody was published in the Almanach Lyrique des Dames in 1814 . A variation of the title ( Romance du vaillant Troubadour or Le Vaillant troubadour, romance, pour piano forte ou harpe ) was published by Goulding, D'Almaine, Potter & Co in 1820 and by Chappell & Co in 1823 .

The German text comes from the corps student Carl Hinkel , ( Corps Saxonia Leipzig ). It was presented for the first time to greet King Friedrich August I of Saxony, who had returned from Prussian captivity, on June 7, 1815.

The melody was adopted by many student associations for their federal songs. The text has been changed slightly over time and has been printed in different versions.

melody

text

Original version

1. Where courage and strength blaze in the German soul, the shining sword is not missing at the sound of a cup; We stand firm and stick together and call out loud in rapturous singing: Whether rock and oak splinter, we will not tremble! ¦: The young man is torn away with a storm of wind, To go into battle and death for love and glory: ...	2. White like the king's head is our sign. And green is the ribbon that encircles our breast, green like the leaves of our German oaks, green like the hope that glows in our hearts. Whether rock and oak splinter, We will not tremble! ¦: The young man is torn away with a storm of wind, To go into battle and death for love and glory: ...
3. We still know how to swing the faithful steel, the forehead is free and the arm strong in battle! We endure and can wrestle courageously when the call of the fatherland calls for it. Whether rock and oak splinter, We will not tremble! ¦: The young man is torn away with a storm of wind, To go into battle and death for love and glory: ...	4. So it swears loudly by our bare sword: Loyal to the king in life as in death! Up, brothers, forward! And shields the father earth And calls out in the bloody dawn: Whether rock and oak splinter, We will not tremble! ¦: The young man is torn away with a storm of wind, To go into battle and death for love and glory: ...
5. And you, my darling, who animates your friend in sweet hours with many a look and word, your heart beats over grave and wounds, because faithful love lives on forever! Whether rock and oak splinter, We will not tremble! ¦: The young man is torn away with a storm of wind, To go into battle and death for love and glory: ...	6. The fate of the great covenant also separates the members. We reach out the faithful hand of brothers! Call again, Saxonia's brave brothers: Hail to the King! And hail to the fatherland! Whether rock and oak splinter, We will not tremble! ¦: The young man is torn away with a storm of wind, to go into battle and death for love and fame.

Alternative version

Red as love be the sign of the brothers

As pure as the gold is the spirit that glows through us,

And that we never, in death itself not give way,

Be black the ribbon that wraps our breasts!

Whether rock and oak splinter,

We won't tremble!

¦: The young man is torn away with storms,

To go into battle and death for the black-red-gold: ...

Or:

[...]

¦: The boy is torn away with storm drifts,

To stand his man in the struggle for life: ...

literature

• Hirth, Fritz, song book for German students , 6th unchanged edition, LV Enders publishing house, Vienna
• Gauturnrat Ostmark-Turngau Nieder-Österreich, song book , 9th edition, 1911, Vienna
• MKV, ÖCV and KÖL, Das Österreichische Kommersbuch , Edition Helbling, 1984, Innsbruck
• Society for student history and student customs, CV songbook with sheet music , 3rd edition, 1994, Munich, ISBN 3922485073

Web links

Wikisource: Where courage and strength (Hinkel)  - Sources and full texts

• wise
• Weise ( Memento of March 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )