Cover of an edition of
‘Der Landser’ entitled ‘Jagdkommando Ris TA’
The song Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden is the
traditional lament played at the funeral of fallen members of the German armed
forces.
Written in
1809 by the poet Ludwig Uhland, it does not carry the connotation of Nazism in
the manner of the Horst Wessel Song.
It did form part of the musical ceremonies for the funerals of figures who
served the Third Reich. Ranging from those whose legacies are now shrouded in
revulsion such as Reinhard Heydrich to those who are viewed in a favourable
light like Erwin Rommel, it is characterised as non-sectarian and
non-ideological.
The
Bundeswehr has kept up the tradition and on anniversaries of the 20th of
July anti-Hitler plot, it is played in tribute to General Ludwig
Beck, General Friedrich Olbricht, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, Lieutenant
Werner Haeften and other officers who lost their lives and were not accorded
the rites of a Christian burial and the honour of a military funeral.
Sixteen years
after Uhland’s text, the composer Friedrich Silcher set it to music which was
based on the tune of a Swiss folk song.
German Lyrics
Ich hatt’
einen Kamaraden,
Einen bessern
findst di nicht.
Die Trommel
schlug zum Streite,
Er ging an
meiner Seite
|: In
gleichem Schritt und Tritt. :|
Eine Kugel
kam geflogen:
Gilt sie mir
oder gilt sie dir?
Ihn hat es
weggerissen,
Er liegt vor
meinen Fussen
|: Als war’s
ein Stuck von mir:|
Will mir die
Hand noch reichen,
Derweil ich
eben lad’.
“Kann dir die
Hand nicht geben,
Bleib du im
ew’gen Leben
|: Mein guter
Kamerad!” :|
English
Translation
In battle he
was my comrade
None better I
have had.
The drum
called us to fight,
He walked on
my side,
|: In step,
through good and bad. :|
A bullet flew
towards us,
For him or
meant for me?
His life from
mine it tore,
At my feet a
piece of gore,
|: As if a
part of me. :|
His hand
reached up to hold mine.
I must
re-load my gun.
“My friend, I
cannot ease your pain,
In the
eternal life we’ll meet again,
|: And walk
once more as one. “:|
© Adeyinka
Makinde (2017)
Adeyinka
Makinde is a writer based in London, England.
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