Vaterlandslied is the name of several patrioticGerman poems. The most famous one is "Ich bin ein deutsches Mädchen" written byFriedrich Gottlieb Klopstock in 1770 and dedicated to Johanna Elisabeth von Winthem.
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock already was a devout patriot as a youth, as is shown by aWar Song written in 1749 honouring thePrussian kingFrederick 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.[1]
Due to the political development during his lifetime, the disappointment with regard to the king's distaste of German culture, and thezeitgeist, his patriotism did not refer to Klopstock's present but to the past. TheWar Song consequently was rededicated toHenry the Fowler, andArminius 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 ofbarditus or "battle song" afterTacitus'Germania)Hermann's Schlacht (1769),Hermann und die Prinzen (1784) andHermann's Tod (1787).[1]
TheVaterlandslied as a paean of Germanpatriotism joins this list of literature exalting thenation. It was originally written for Johanna Elisabeth von Winthem, Klopstock's stepdaughter,[2] who still was a child in 1770.[3]
Ich bin ein deutsches Mädchen. | I am a German girl! |
As the poem became very popular, several composers set its lyrics to music. Among them are:[5]
Matthias Claudius replied to Klopstock′s poem and wrote ″Ich bin ein deutscher Jüngling″ (I am a German lad). BothJoseph Martin Kraus[7] andMaria Theresia von Paradis provided a melody for the song.
August Silberstein wrote a poem of the same name for whichAnton Bruckner[8] composed the music:Vaterlandslied, WAB 92.
The most famous song of that name, besides Klopstock′s version, is, however,Ernst Moritz Arndt′s ″Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen ließ″ (The God who made iron grow), a patriotic anthem written during theWars of Liberation againstNapoleonic 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.