Hans Leip (22 September 1893 – 6 June 1983), was a German novelist, poet and playwright, best remembered as the lyricist of

Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troo ...

. Leip was the son of a former sailor and harbour-worker at the port of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. He was educated there, and in 1914 became a teacher in the Hamburg suburb of Rothenburgsort. In 1915 he was called up by the German army and after training in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

served on the Eastern front and in the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

. After being wounded in 1917 he was discharged on medical grounds. He first had ambitions as an artist, but then turned to writing, although he illustrated his books himself. In the 1920s, he travelled extensively, to

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, Algiers and

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, among other places. His breakthrough as a novelist was with the success of ''Godekes Knecht'', which was awarded the prize of the ' newspaper. His novels sold well in the years leading up to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, while he also wrote plays, short stories, poems, dramas and was also a painter and sculptor. Leibovitz, Liel and Miller, Matthew (2008). ''Lili Marlene: The Soldiers' Song of World War II''. New York, NY: Norton.

"Lili Marleen"

Leip wrote the words while serving in the army during World War I. The poem was originally titled "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for "The Girl under the Lantern"). He reportedly combined the nickname of his girlfriend with that of a nurse. The poem was later published as "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" ("The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch") in 1937, now with the two last (of five) verses added by Leip. It was set to music by

Norbert Schultze Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze (26 January 1911 in Brunswick – 14 October 2002 in Bad Tölz) was a prolific German composer of film music and a member of the NSDAP and of Joseph Goebbels' staff during World War II. He is best remem ...

in 1938. Tommie Connor later wrote English lyrics. It was recorded by

Lale Andersen Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter and actress born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song ''Lili Marleen'' in 1939, which by 1941 transcend ...

in 1939 and subsequently, in many translations, became a worldwide hit.

References

External links

The Official Lili Marleen PageLili Marleen by Lale Anderson on Internet ArchiveSite in German about Hans Leip
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Leip, Hans 1893 births 1983 deaths Writers from Hamburg German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights German songwriters 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German poets German male novelists 20th-century German novelists German Army personnel of World War I German-language poets 20th-century German male writers