Der Tod fürs Vaterland is an ode by

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Part ...

which has been set to music by Walter Braunfels, Fritz Brandt, and Carl Gerhardt. It was published in 1800.

Lyrics

Background

The verses are nurtured by revolutionary aspirations that emerged in Hölderlin's mind after the invasion of French troops in Southern Germany in 1796. The first draft of the ode was called "Die Schlacht" (''Battle'') and illustrates Hölderlin's intentions: Here, Hölderlin means the German ''Landesväter'' (Landesvater: father of the land), i.e. the princes, and criticizes the word and the concept as such positive terms were used in order to disguise their

despotism Despotism ( el, Δεσποτισμός, ''despotismós'') is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot; but (as in an autocracy) societies which limit respect and ...

and to keep their subjects '' unmündig''. For Hölderlin, the ''Vaterland'' was thus mainly a community that had to be defended by both foreign invasion and domestic tyrants, an idea based on the principles of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, which he admired as he had written in 1792 to his sister when he told her that he "pray for the French, the advocates of human rights". The ode thus incites the German youth to start a revolutionary war of liberation: in the first two stanzas Hölderlin encourages the ''Jünglinge'' to fight the tyrannical mercenary armies of the princes that are better equipped but less motivated as they did not fight for their country but only for money. The "''Vaterlandsgesängen''" (patriotic paeans) he invokes are a reference to the

Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

which was very popular at that time, even outside France.Jochen Schmidt, in: Friedrich Hölderlin, Sämtliche Gedichte, Deutscher Klassiker Verlag im Taschenbuch, Band 4, Frankfurt 2005, Page 626.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tod furs Vaterland, Der 1800 poems German patriotic songs German poems Works by Friedrich Hölderlin Compositions by Walter Braunfels