The lyrics of the song were written by Niel, a German composer of marches. A version, with Afrikaans lyrics, was the anthem of the South African Air Force during the apartheid years. The Finnish Army had a Finnish translation version, Kaarina, of this song during the World War II. The song has also become traditional by the highly Prussianized Chilean Army. In itself, the song has no military themes, beyond the fact that the narrator (evidently a soldier, though this is not explicitly stated) is away from his beloved and recalls her when seeing the plant which has the same name. ![]() The theme of the song is based on "Erika" being both a common German female first name and the name of the heather plant (German: Heide, Erika Latin: Erica), of which the heather-yards are considered as a "symbol of German natural heritage". The song was composed by Herms Niel in the 1930s, and it soon came into usage by the Wehrmacht, especially the Heer and, to a lesser extent, the Kriegsmarine. In my opinion, this has not so much to do with the government but with a generation of soldiers who prefer Hip-Hop to old Folk songs.Erika (or Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein) is a marching song of the German military. I don't know what has changed since then, but I guess that the order "Ein Lied!" has become nearly distinct in most units. Anyway, I'm in the possession of "Kameraden singt!", the "Liederbuch der Bundeswehr" from 1991. I didn't sing a single time during my Dienstzeit, and I can't say that I missed it. As for the Soldatenlieder that hat no political text, they are often considered to be too sentimental or schmalzig by the young soldiers of today. As many texts were militaristic, aggressive and offending to other nations, they are not played officially anymore, although some people in the Marine or the Fallschirmjäger may still sing songs that are not PC. They were mostly from the times of the Kaiserreich or the Third Reich. A Soldatenlied is a song with a text that could be sung both on the march and at the campfire, usually by the soldiers themselves. As I said, with the exception of Hitlers favorite, the Badenweiler, they are as frequently played as ever. The Bundeswehr continue to perform traditional German Military marches.īut must exclude those related to Hitler's reign, or any percieved reference to it.Ī march is a marching tune without text to be performed by a Musikkorps. ![]() They obliged by giving a great rendition of U-Boote am Fiend to the applause of the customers and staff. ![]() In a popular, city-centre pub, sailors from the ship were encouraged to sing a German song. I recall, four years ago, a German warship visited Scotland. They continue to rehearse the military marches of the past, perhaps though, not in view of their political masters in Germany. The men of the Bundeswehr have not forgotten their forefathers. Even the non-political march 'Panzerlied' was subject to scrutiny, as it could be conceived as 'aggressive'. It was then frowned upon by certain German politicians, under pressure from a pacifist lobby in the German parliament. To my knowledge the Bundeswehr were marching to the tunes of traditional German Military compositions, and also to marches composed post World War One, up to 1998-99.
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