"Wenn alle untreu werden, so bleiben wir doch treu" (If all become unfaithful, we remain loyal) is the opening line of a famous patriotic German popular song written by

Max von Schenkendorf Gottlob Ferdinand Maximilian Gottfried von Schenkendorf (11 December 1783 in Tilsit in East Prussia – 11 December 1817 in Koblenz) was a German poet, born in Tilsit and educated at Königsberg. During the War of Liberation, in which he took ...

in 1814. Schenkendorf dedicated the song to

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (11August 177815October 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist whose writing is credited with the founding of the German gymnastics (Turner) movement as well as influencing the German Campaign of 1813, during which a coalition of ...

for the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. The melody was a slightly modified form of "", a French hunting song dating from 1724. The title also refers to a German hymn of the same name, written by the German poet

Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (), was a German polymath who was a writer, philosopher, poet, aristocrat and mystic. He is regarded as an idiosyncratic and influential figure of ...

in 1799. The first two lines of this hymn are the same as in Schenkendorf's song.

Gerhard Roßbach Gerhard Roßbach (28 February 1893 – 30 August 1967), also spelt Rossbach, was a German ''Freikorps'' leader and organizer of nationalist groups after World War I. He is generally credited with inventing the brown uniforms of the Nazi Party ...

included the song in the activities of his German Youth Movement in which "its emphasis on loyalty in adversity and faith in Germany precisely fit Roßbach's desire to unify conservative forces behind a project of political and cultural renewal." Celia Applegate, Pamela Maxine Potter (eds), ''Music and German National Identity'', 2002, University of Chicago Press, p. 136 During the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

the song was used extensively by the Nazi SS, and became known as ''Treuelied'' (song of faithfulness).

Lyrics

Melody

\header \layout melody = \relative c'' \addlyrics \addlyrics \score \score

References

External links

* {{Authority control Political party songs German songs Nazi SS 1814 songs German patriotic songs