Nazi songs


Nazi songs are songs and marches created by the NSDAP. In modern Germany, the public singing or performing of songs exclusively associated with the NSDAP is now illegal.

Background

There is often confusion between songs written specifically for the Nazi Party, and much older German patriotic songs that were used extensively by the Nazis and have become associated with them. This observation applies above all to Das Lied der Deutschen, written in 1841. It became the national anthem of the Weimar Republic in 1922, but during the Nazi era, only the first stanza was used, followed by the SA song "Horst-Wessel-Lied".
In modern Germany, the public singing or performing of songs identified exclusively with Nazi Germany is illegal. It can be punished with up to three years of imprisonment.

Sturmabteilung (SA) songs

Many pre-1933 SA songs were based on older German folk melodies, while there were instances in which SA combat songs copied the melodies of rival Red Front Fighters songs, which were in turn based on Russian marches. An example of this is the fascist song "Brüder in Zechen und Gruben", which copied the melody of the communist "Brüder, zur Sonne, zur Freiheit", whose melody, in turn, belonged to the march "Smelo, tovarishchi, v nogu" written in 1895/6 by Leonid Radin in Moscow's Taganka prison.

"Horst Wessel Lied"

The "Horst-Wessel-Lied", also known as "Die Fahne Hoch", was the official anthem of the NSDAP. The song was written by Horst Wessel, a party activist and SA leader, who was killed by a member of the Communist Party of Germany. After his death, he was proclaimed by the NSDAP a "martyr" and his song gained widespread popularity among the party followers.
Public performances of the song are currently forbidden in Germany and Austria, a ban that includes both the lyrics and the melody, and is only permitted for educational purposes.

"Kampflied der Nationalsozialisten"

"Kampflied der Nationalsozialisten", also known by its opening line "Wir Sind Das Heer Vom Hakenkreuz" was an early Nazi hymn, its lyrics were written by Kleo Pleyer, while the melody being essentially based on that of the traditional German folk song "Stimmt an Mit Hellem Hohen klang", which was written in 1811 by Albert Methfessel. Later on, the verses of "Das Berliner Jungarbeiterlied" were added to the song, set to the melody of the Aviamarsh composed in 1921 by Yuliy Abramovich Khayt. During the Nazi era, the song was performed by Carl Woitschach's orchestra in its full version, incorporating both melodies, as "Kampflied der Nationalsozialisten/Herbei zum Kampf".

"Die Hitlerleute” (Kameraden Laßt Erschallen)

"Kameraden Laßt Erschallen" was a Sturmabteilung arrangement of the Kaiserjägerlied written by Karl Mühlberger in 1914. The author of the lyrics of Die Hitlerleute was Horst Wessel himself and the song originated from his unit, the Sturm 67/5 of the Berlin Sturmabteilung, also known as the Sturm "Horst Wessel", named in honor of Horst Wessel, also known by its old name before Horst Wessel's death, "The Hitlerleute". The first recording of the song was published by the company Electrola around the early 1930s.

"Auf, Hitlerleute, schließt die Reihen" (Hitlernationale)

The Nazis were not reticent in employing songs and melodies previously associated wholly with socialists and communists in their quest to broaden their appeal to the working class, and the Internationale was a prime target. By 1930, a Nazi version of this working-class standard was in circulation, entitled the Hitlernationale:
Auf, Hitlerleute, schließt die Reihen,
Zum Rassenkampf sind wir bereit.
Mit unserem Blut wollen wir das
Banner weihen,
Zum Zeichen einer neuen Zeit.
Auf rotem Grund im weißen Felde,
Weht unser schwarzes Hakenkreuz.
Schon jubeln Siegesignale,
Schon bricht der Morgen hell herein.
Der nationale Sozialismus
Wird Deutschlands Zukunft sein.
Arise Hitler men, close ranks,
We are ready for the racial struggle.
With our blood we consecrate the
banner,
The symbol of a new era.
On its red and white background,
Shines our black swastika bright.
Victory sounds are heard all over,
As the morning light breaks through;
National Socialism
Is the future of Germany.
Appropriating working-class songs such as the Internationale for their own
political ends had a direct effect on the streets, as the Nazi composer Hans Bajer
noted with obvious delight when giving this account of a march by the SA into
working-class district of north Berlin one Sunday afternoon in 1930:
When the storm troopers broke into song, singing the ‘Hitlernationale’, residents threw open their windows, misled momentarily by the familiar tune. Realizing quickly that Nazis were trying to appropriate the melody of their revolutionary anthem, the socialist residents countered by singing the refrain from the original text ‘Völker hört die Signale! Auf zum letzten Gefecht’, while others pelted the storm troopers with bits of debris. Police promptly moved in to prevent serious trouble.

Bajer’s account proves once more that song played a central role in the battle for control of the streets.

"Hitlerleute" ("The Hitler's people")

That song had the same tune of Italian "Giovinezza"
This is not to be confused with “Die Hitlerleute”, most commonly referred to as “Kameraden Laßt Erschallen” which is a completely different song.

"Heil Hitler Dir!" ("Deutschland Erwache")

The song "Deutschland Erwache", also known by its original name, "Heil Hitler Dir", otherwise known as Sachsenmarsch der NSDAP, was written by Dresden-based composer and NSDAP member Bruno C. Schestak, and premiered in the celebrations of Hitler's 48th birthday on 20 April 1937.

"SS Marschiert in Feindesland"

"SS marschiert in Feindesland" also known as "Teufelslied" was a marching song of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The music for this song came from the "Lied der Legion Condor", which was written by Wolfram Philipps and Christian Jährig, two Condor Legion pilots with the rank of Oberleutnant. A marching song with the same melody was adopted by the Charlemagne French SS Division, the Estonian SS Division, the Latvian Legion and the Norwegian Legion during the war. A song with a similar melody, "Dragões do Ar", was adopted by the Paratroopers Brigade.
In 2013, Stefan Gotschacher, press secretary of the right-wing populist and national-conservative FPÖ political party in Austria, was fired after posting lyrics of the song on his Facebook page.

"Es zittern die morschen Knochen"

"Es zittern die morschen Knochen" by Hans Baumann was, after the "Horst-Wessel-Lied", one of the most famous Nazi Party songs and the official song of the Hitler Youth.
The original song's refrain was "Denn heute gehört uns Deutschland / und morgen die ganze Welt". In a later version this was mitigated for the Hitler Youth to "Denn heute da hört uns Deutschland...".

"Vorwärts! Vorwärts!"

"Vorwärts! Vorwärts! schmettern die hellen Fanfaren" is a Hitler Youth marching song. The text of the song, published in 1933, comes from Baldur von Schirach and is based on a melody by UFA composer Hans-Otto Borgmann, originally used in a documentary on Svalbard island.
"Vorwärts! Vorwärts!" was first performed in the 1933 propaganda film Hitlerjunge Quex. Motifs from the song are used throughout the film, underlying representations of the Hitler Youth, in contrast to The Internationale and jazz motifs in scenes from a socialist "commune".

"Panzerlied"

A German military marching song of the Wehrmacht armored troops, "Panzerlied" was composed in 1933. The NSKK also made their own take on the Panzerlied, but with a different variation called the Panzerwagenlied. In 2017, the Bundeswehr was banned from publishing songbooks containing Panzerlied and other marching songs by the Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen as part of new efforts at denazification.

"Heiliges Feuer"

"Heiliges Feuer", also known by its opening line "Wir Sind Die Arbeit Soldaten", was a song composed by Will Decker. The first full score of the song was done in 1934 by Herms Niel and the song was first premiered to the public in 1935 in the NSDAP propaganda film Triumph Des Willens. The original title given by Will Decker to the song was actually "Heiliges Feuer, Das Lied und der Marsch des Arbeitsdienstes, unter Verwendung der Melodie von Will Decker".

"Deutschland, du Land der Treue"

"Deutschland, du Land der Treue", is a song written and famously sung by :de:Franz Baumann |Franz Baumann in 1934, based on a melody "" by Theodore F. Morse.

"Sieg Heil Viktoria"

"Sieg Heil Viktoria" was a marching song of the SS was written by Herms Niel in 1941.
In the lyrics by following phrase "Auf Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, ade, ade, ade," to represent the Allied leaders of World War II.

Other music