Lied von der blauen Fahne

Last updated

The Lied von der blauen Fahne (Song of the Blue Flag) was an East German patriotic song written by Johannes R. Becher and set to music by Hanns Eisler. Both Becher and Eisler were also the creators of Auferstanden aus Ruinen, which became the national anthem of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Contents

History

In 1949, the GDR was founded in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, which was in place since 1945 after Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II. German communists sought to boost the picture of the GDR as being the first anti-Fascist state on German soil. Unlike West Germany (FRG), the GDR refused to recognize its responsibility for the atrocities committed by the Nazis as it regarded itself as a new socialist national entity that had defeated Nazism. [1]

This official state myth thus enabled the development of a strongly outwardly patriotic ideology East Germany whereas West Germany had a more more uncertain public or manifest relationship to its own national identity. [2]

As the GDR still wanted to reunify Germany in its early years, patriotic and propaganda songs constantly mentioned the country as a whole. Especially in the 1950s, patriotic songs praising Germany, German unity and the future of a new, democratic nation were produced and promoted by the GDR government, the socialist party and its sub-organizations.

One of these songs was the Song of the Blue Flag which referred to the flag of the party's youth organisation, the Freie Deutsche Jugend . Its authors, Hanns Eisler and Johannes R. Becher, had also written East Germany's national anthem and other patriotic songs. [3]

The official attitude of the socialist government towards Germany changed in 1974 when the constitution was modified and all passages referring to the country as a whole or the GDR as a "socialist state of the German nation" were effaced. Hence, the lyrics of the national anthem exalting "Germany, our united fatherland" fell out of use, too, as did all songs about a united Germany thad had hitherto been sung. [4]

Lyrics

German originalEnglish translation

Auf den Straßen, auf den Bahnen
Seht ihr Deutschlands Jugend zieh'n.
Hoch im Blauen fliegen Fahnen:
Blaue Fahnen nach Berlin!
Links und links, und Schritt gehalten,
Lasst uns in der Reihe geh'n!
Unsre Fahnen sich entfalten,
Um im Sturm voranzuweh'n.

Hebt die Fahnen, lasst sie schweben,
Singt ein neues Fahnenlied!
Wir sind Deutschlands neues Leben,
Und der Frieden mit uns zieht.
Macht des Friedens, du wirst siegen,
Ziehst in alle Herzen ein.
Blaue Fahnen werden fliegen
Hoch im blauen Himmelsschein.

Aus dem Blauen strahlt die Sonne,
Und sie leuchtet, Deutschland, dir.
„Links und links!“ singt die Kolonne,
Freie Deutsche Jugend, wir.
Lasst uns neu die Heimat bauen,
Lasst uns fest zusammensteh'n!
Blaue Fahnen, hoch im Blauen,
Werden über Deutschland weh'n.

On the streets and on the paths
You see Germany's youth.
High up in the blue sky, flags fly:
Blue flags to Berlin!
Left and left, keep pace,
Let us march in line!
Our flags unfold
In order to fly ahead in tempest.

Hoist the flags, let them flutter,
Chant a new flag song!
We are Germany's new life
And peace accompanies us.
Power of peace, you will be victorious
And move in in every heart.
Blue flags will fly
High in the blue sky.

The sun shines in the blue sky
And it shines for you, Germany.
"Left and left" the column that is us,
The Free German Youth, sings.
Let us build a new country,
Let us firmly stand together!
Blue flags, high up in the blue sky,
Will fly above Germany.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deutschlandlied</span> National anthem of Germany

The "Deutschlandlied", officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen", has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was "Auferstanden aus Ruinen", used between 1949 and 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auferstanden aus Ruinen</span> National anthem of East Germany (1949–1990)

"Auferstanden aus Ruinen" was the national anthem of the East Germany during its existence from 1949 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanns Eisler</span> Austrian and German composer (1898–1962)

Hanns Eisler was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin is named after him.

BRD is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. It was occasionally used in the Federal Republic itself during the early Cold War; it was commonly used between 1968 and 1990 by the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic, resulting in a strong deprecation of its use in West Germany. The East German regime had previously used the term "German Federal Republic", which it abbreviated as "DBR", to refer to West Germany. The most widely used abbreviation for West Germany in the country itself was its ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code "DE", which has remained the country code of reunified Germany.

Articles related to East Germany include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Dieckmann</span> German politician (1893–1969)

Johannes Dieckmann was a German journalist and politician who served as the 1st President of the Volkskammer, the parliament of East Germany, from 1949 to 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes R. Becher</span> German politician, novelist and poet (1891–1958)

Johannes Robert Becher was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. At one time, he was part of the literary avant-garde, writing in an expressionist style.

<i>Die Rote Fahne</i> German newspaper

Die Rote Fahne was a German newspaper originally founded in 1876 by Socialist Worker's Party leader Wilhelm Hasselmann, and which has been since published on and off, at times underground, by German Socialists and Communists. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg famously published it in 1918 as organ of the Spartacus League.

East German literature is the literature produced in East Germany from the time of the Soviet occupation in 1945 until the end of the communist government in 1990. The literature of this period was heavily influenced by the concepts of socialist realism and controlled by the communist government. As a result, the literature of the German Democratic Republic was for decades dismissed as nothing more than "Boy meet Tractor literature", but its study is now considered a legitimate field. Because of its language, the literature is more accessible to western scholars and is considered to be one of the most reliable, if not the most reliable, sources about East Germany.

"Kinderhymne" is a poem by Bertolt Brecht, written in 1950 and set to music by Hanns Eisler in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilly Becher</span> German writer (1901–1978)

Lilly Becher was a German writer, journalist and communist activist. Noted as one of the first anti-Nazi writers to produce documentary work dealing with the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany during the 1930s, Becher was the wife of noted writer Johannes Becher and achieved significant recognition in East Germany as a writer in her own right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Günter Kochan</span> German composer (1930–2009)

Günter Kochan was a German composer. He studied with Boris Blacher and was a master student for composition with Hanns Eisler. From 1967 until his retirement in 1991, he worked as professor for musical composition at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler". He taught master classes in composition at the Academy of Music and the Academy of Arts, Berlin. He was also secretary of the Music Section of the Academy of Arts from 1972 to 1974 and vice-president of the Association of Composers and Musicologists of the GDR from 1977 to 1982. Kochan is one of eleven laureates to have been awarded the National Prize of the GDR four times. In addition, he received composition prizes in the US and Eastern Europe. He became internationally known in particular for his Symphonies as well as the cantata Die Asche von Birkenau (1965) and his Music for Orchestra No. 2 (1987). His versatile oeuvre included orchestral works, chamber music, choral works, mass songs and film music and is situated between socialist realism and avant-garde.

The Hymne an Deutschland is a patriotic song which the then-president of West Germany, Theodor Heuss, aspired to establish as the new national anthem of Germany. During the early 1950s prior to the adoption of "Deutschlandlied" by West Germany, it acted as a sort of de facto national anthem of the nascent state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Einheitsfrontlied</span> German labour movement song

The "Einheitsfrontlied", translated as the "United Front Song" in English, is one of the most famous songs of the German labour movement. It was written by Bertolt Brecht and composed by Hanns Eisler. The best-known rendition was sung by Ernst Busch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic Day (East Germany)</span> Official holiday in East Germany

Republic Day was an official holiday in East Germany, celebrated annually on 7 October from 1949 to 1989. Republic Day commemorates the anniversary of the establishment of the German Democratic Republic on 7 October 1949. On Republic Day, the Government of the GDR awarded many people the National Award of the GDR.

The Hanns Eisler Prize was an East-German music award, named after the composer Hanns Eisler. It was awarded by Radio DDR – with advisory participation of the music section of the Akademie der Künste der DDR in Berlin (East) and the Verband der Komponisten und Musikwissenschaftler der DDR (VDK) – and on the occasion of his 70th birthday on 6 July 1968, the first time in the ballroom of the Alten Rathaus. The Hanns Eisler Prize was endowed with 10,000 marks and was one of the most renowned music prizes in the German Democratic Republic.

Nathan "Noto" Notowicz was a German musicologist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmut Koch (conductor)</span> German conductor and choir leader (1908–1975)

Helmut Koch was a German conductor, choir leader, composer, and academic teacher. He was recording manager for the Berliner Rundfunk from 1945, where he founded the Solistenvereinigung Berlin, the Kammerorchester Berlin and the Großer Chor des Berliner Rundfunks. He conducted a recording of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1949, and later also contemporary classical music by composers including Hanns Eisler, Fritz Geißler, Ernst Hermann Meyer and Ruth Zechlin. He was professor at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" from its beginning. After working as a regular guest conductor at the Staatsoper Berlin, he became Generalmusikdirektor. He was the first conductor of the Berliner Singakademie in East Berlin, and held the position until his death.

Willy Focke is a German composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akademie der Künste der DDR</span> East-German music institut

The Akademie der Künste der DDR was the central art academy of the German Democratic Republic (DDR). It existed under different names from 1950 to 1993. Then it merged with the "Akademie der Künste Berlin (West)" to become the Academy of Arts, Berlin.

References

  1. Benz, Wolfgang (ed.). Deutschland unter alliierter Besatzung 1945–1949. Die DDR 1949–1990. 10th edition: 2009. Page XXII.
  2. König, Daniel. Patriotismus in Deutschland. Diplomica Verlag: Hamburg, 2012. Page 63.
  3. Heimböckel, Dieter. Uwe Werlein (ed.). Verlag Königshausen & Neumann: Würzburg, 2005. Der Bildhunger der Literatur. Festschrift für Gunter E. Grimm. Page 308.
  4. Weber, Hermann. Die DDR. 1945–1990. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag: München, 2006. Page 84.