Vaterlandslied is the name of several patriotic German poems. The most famous one is "Ich bin ein deutsches Mädchen" written by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock in 1770 and dedicated to Johanna Elisabeth von Winthem.
Historic background Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock already was a devout patriot as a youth, as is shown by a War Song written in 1749 honouring the Prussian king Frederick the Great. When the king, however, did not patronize German artists and poets but declared his love for French culture, Klopstock thought that it was up to him to defend German poetry.A History of German Literature. Haskell House Publishers Ltd.: New York, 1906. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-130265. p. 36.
Due to the political development during his lifetime, the disappointment with regard to the king's distaste of German culture, and the zeitgeist, his patriotism did not refer to Klopstock's present but to the past. The War Song consequently was rededicated to Henry the Fowler, and Arminius became a regular figure in Klopstock's œuvres. Among these works dedicated to the "liberator of Germany" are the poem "Hermann und Thusnelda" and the "Bardiete" (Klopstock's term for the genre of or "battle song" after Tacitus' Germania) Hermann's Schlacht (1769), Hermann und die Prinzen (1784) and Hermann's Tod (1787).
The Vaterlandslied as a paean of German patriotism joins this list of literature exalting the nation. It was originally written for Johanna Elisabeth von Winthem, Klopstock's stepdaughter,Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb. Oden und Elegieen mit erklärenden Anmerkungen und einer Einleitung von dem Leben und den Schriften des Dichters. Band 1. C. H. F. Hartmann: Leipzig, 1827. p. 17. who still was a child in 1770.Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb. Oden und Elegieen mit erklärenden Anmerkungen und einer Einleitung von dem Leben und den Schriften des Dichters. Band 2. C. H. F. Hartmann: Leipzig, 1828. p. 226.
Klopstock's lyrics
Music As the poem became very popular, several composers set its lyrics to music. Among them are:Göschen, Georg Joachim (ed.). Chloe. Beihefte zum Daphnis. Band 12. Studien zum deutschen weltlichen Kunstlied des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts. Amsterdam: 1992. p. 290 Johann Friedrich Reichardt, 1773 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, 1774 Christian Gottlob Neefe, 1776 and 1785 Christoph Willibald Gluck, 1786 Franz Schubert, 1815, D 287Newbould, Brian. Schubert. The Music and the Man. University of California Press: 1997. p. 442
Other Vaterlandslieder Matthias Claudius replied to Klopstock′s poem and wrote ″Ich bin ein deutscher Jüngling″ (I am a German lad). Both Joseph Martin KrausKraus′s Vaterlandslied and Maria Theresia von Paradis provided a melody for the song.
August Silberstein wrote a poem of the same name for which Anton BrucknerBruckner′s Vaterlandslied composed the music: Vaterlandslied, WAB 92.
The most famous song of that name, besides Klopstock′s version, is, however, Ernst Moritz Arndt′s ″″ (The God who made iron grow), a patriotic anthem written during the Wars of Liberation against Napoleonic France. In the poem he incites his fellow countrymen to fight against the French invaders, and denounces those who actively or passively aid the occupiers and thus betray their country.
See also Hermann und Thusnelda
References
External links Schubert′s version on YouTube (start: 12:41 min.) Excerpts of Gluck's (Nr. 12), Schubert's (14) and Bach's (18) version on a CD by the label Gramola. Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen ließ by Arndt on YouTube.