Elfte Kompanie Song List.
This list includes essential songs that would have been well known and relevant to soldiers of JR129 during the First World War. Unit Members should learn these five songs. Singing was a major hallmark of the Imperial German Army, and German Society as a whole at this time. It helped raise the morale of the troops, assisted with marking pace while on the march, and was one of the many forms of Kameradschaft enjoyed in their bunkers. Where possible lyrics will be provided in German, along with some history of the song itself, and a link to a location where the song can be listened too. This is by no means a comprehensive list. You can learn and share as many songs as you like, however be sure they are appropriate to the First World War. Songs from the Nazi Era are entirely inappropriate.
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott – A Mighty Fortress is our God
A Mighty Fortress is one of the most well known Lutheran and Protestant Hymns, and is referred to as the “Battle Hymn of the Reformation” as it was used in that
capacity in the many European Wars fought between Catholic and Protestant Armies. The words and lyrics were composed by Martin Luther in the late 1520s. The song was sung along Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin at the start of the Austro-Prussian War and by mass crowds in Berlin at the outbreak of the First World War. As the city of Danzig where JR129 was garrisoned and Northern Germany as a whole were largely Lutheran the overwhelming majority of the unit would have known this song. The long term organist that served the Lutheran Church I grew up in at home in Northern Ohio would often play the first few bars of this song as a joke whenever our choir merged with the Catholic Choirs in town for special occasions.
German Lyrics
1. Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott,
Ein' gute Wehr und Waffern.
Er hilft uns frei aus aller Noth,
Die uns jetzt hat betroffen.
Der alte bose Feind
Mit Ernst er es jetzt meint;
Auf Erd'n ist nicht sein's Gleichen.
Sein grausam Rueftung ist,
Auf Erd ist nich seins Gleichen.
2. Mit unser Macht ist nichts getan,
Wir sind gar bald verloren;
Es streit's fur uns der rechte Mann,
Den gott had selbst erkoren.
Und fragst due Wer der ist?
Er heisset Jesus Christ,
Der Herr Zebaoth;
Und is kein andrer Gott;
Das Feld muss er behalten.
3. Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel war,
Und wollt uns gar verschlingen,
So fruchten wir uns nicht zu sehr,
Es solluns doch gelingen.
Der Furst von dieser Welt
Wie sauer er sich stellt,
Thut er uns doch nicht;
Das macht, er is gericht't,
Er Wortlein kann ihn fallen.
4. Das Wort Sie sollen lassen stahn,
Und kein Dank dazu haben;
Er is bei uns wol auf dem Plan
Mit seinem Geist and Gaben.
Nehmen sie uns den Leib,
Gut, Ehre, Kind und Weib;
Lass fahren nur dahin,
Sie habenkein Gewinn;
Das Reich muss uns doch bleiben.
Follow this Link to You Tube where you can hear Ein' feste Burg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErKTZchVVeE
Die Wacht am Rhein
Argonnerwald
Ich hatt' einen Kameraden
Muss I Denn