''Lietuvininkai we are born'' (german: Als Litauer sind wir geboren, lt, Lietuvninkai mes esam gimę) is a Lithuanian-language patriotic and sentimental poem written by the German linguist

Georg Sauerwein Georg Julius Justus Sauerwein (15 January 1831 in Hanover – 16 December 1904 in Kristiania) was a German publisher, polyglot, poet, and linguist. He is buried at Gronau. Sauerwein was the greatest linguistic prodigy of his time and mastered ab ...

in 1879. It is a passionate defense of

Prussian Lithuanian The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithuan ...

(Lietuvininkai) language and culture, rallying people to resist

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...

attempts. However, at the same time the poem proclaimed love and loyalty to the

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

signifying that the rally was cultural and not political. It was inspired by

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

ideas that archaic languages and traditions of minorities should be cherished, studied, and preserved. The poem was first published in the Prussian Lithuanian newspaper ''

Lietuwißka Ceitunga The ''Lietuwißka Ceitunga'' (literally: ''Lithuanian Newspaper'') was an influential Lithuanian-language newspaper published for Prussian Lithuanians, an ethnic minority of East Prussia, a province of the German Empire. It was established in 1877 ...

'' in 1879. The poem was set to music in 1908 by the composer

Stasys Šimkus Stasys Šimkus (23 January 1887, Motiškiai, now in Jurbarkas district municipality, Russian Empire – 15 October 1943, Kaunas, Reichskommissariat Ostland) was a Lithuanian composer. Šimkus studied in Vilnius and Warsaw and later became the ...

and became the unofficial anthem of

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic re ...

. Its shortened version uses only the 1st and 4th stanzas relevant to both Lithuania Minor and Lithuania Major and replaces ''Lietuvininkai'' with ''Lietuviai'' (

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...

), was proposed to become the

National Anthem of Lithuania National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

after Lithuania established its nation state in 1918. Although it did not become the national anthem of the country, its popularity continued as a patriotic song which often could be heard during the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...

. The musical theme of the song was used by the Lithuanian radio (before World War II), Sąjūdis television programming, and news broadcast of Lithuanian National Radio.

References

External links

* {{wikisource-inline, links= Lietuvninkai mes esam gimę
Song performed at a song festival in Kaunas in 2010
1879 poems Lithuanian poems Lithuania Minor Patriotic songs