Ich hatt' einen Kameraden
"Der gute Kamerad" ("The Good Comrade"), also known by its incipit as "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" ("I had a comrade"), is a traditional German soldiers'
The song is about the immediate experience of a soldier losing a buddy in combat, while completely detached from any political or nationalist ideology. As a result, its use has never been limited to any one particular faction and was sung or cited by representatives of all political backgrounds throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and was translated for use in numerous fighting forces, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese amongst others.[2]
Usage
Ernst Busch used the tune for his eponymous Spanish Civil War song about the death of Hans Beimler.[3] German playwright Carl Zuckmayer in 1966 used the song's line "Als wär's ein Stück von mir" as the title for his autobiography (English title: A Part of Myself).
"The Good Comrade" still plays an important ceremonial role in the German armed forces and is an integral part of a military funeral, continuing a tradition started at some point around 1871.[4]
The song has also become traditional in obsequies of the
Occasionally the song is played at civilian funeral ceremonies, most often when the deceased had been affiliated with the military.
Its use was also common in the formerly
On 22 May 2009, an all-
It is also commonly sung at the funerals of members of a Studentenverbindung. The song is often played on the trumpet during the annual wreath laying ceremonies at the Neue Wache along Unter den Linden, Germany's national war memorial, on Volkstrauertag or Remembrance Day and every 20 July at the Memorial to the German Resistance inside the courtyard of the Bendlerblock in Berlin.[8]
This is because the legacy of the
Text
Ich hatt' einen Kameraden, |
I had a comrade, |
The above text is Uhland's original version. Various variants have been recorded over the years.
Heymann Steinthal in an 1880 article in Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie noted a variant he heard sung by a housemaid, "Die Kugel kam geflogen / Gilt sie mir? Gilt sie dir?" (i.e. "the bullet came flying" instead of "a bullet". Steinthal argued that this version was an improvement over Uhland's text, making reference to the concept of a "fateful bullet" in military tradition and giving a more immediate expression of the fear felt by the soldier in the line of fire.[2]
Melody
References
- ^ Silcher (1825): "aus der Schweiz, in 4/4 Takt von mir verändert" ([melody] from Switzerland, changed to 4
4 time by me", cited after Suevica 4 (1983), p. 76). - ^ a b Oesterle, Kurt (1998). "Die heimliche deutsche Hymne". Bundesverband Digitalpublisher und Zeitungsverleger (in German). Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.
- ^ "Ernst Busch: 'Ich hatt' einen Kameraden'". erinnerungsort.de. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ R. Oeding, Das deutsche Totensignal, 2013
- ^ "J'avais un camarade | French Foreign Legion Information". Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Coleman J. Barry (1956), Worship and Work: Saint John's Abbey and University 1856-1956, Order of St. Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Pages 89-90.
- ^ "Ich hatte einem Kameraden" at Langemarck German military cemetery In Flanders Fields
- ^ "Ich hatt einem Kameraden (The Good Comrade)
- ^ Die Konzeption der Inneren Führung (German), Zentrum Innere Führung (Center of Leadership Development and Civic Education)
Further reading
- Uli Otto, Eginhard König: Ich hatt' einen Kameraden..., Mainz 1999. (reviews) (in German)