Nikolaus Becker Gedenktafel Geilenkirchen

Nikolaus Becker (8 October 1809,

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

Rhin-et-Moselle Rhin-et-Moselle (; ) was a department of the First French Republic and First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was named after the rivers Rhine and Moselle. It was formed in 1797, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Unti ...

– 28 August 1845 in the Hünshoven district of

Geilenkirchen Geilenkirchen (, Ripuarian: ) is a town in the district Heinsberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 15 km (9.3 mi) north-east of Heerlen and 20 k ...

) was a German lawyer and writer. His one poem of note was the 1840 "Rheinlied" (Rhine song) which was set to music over 70 times, the most famous setting being ''

Die Wacht am Rhein "" (, ''The Watch on the Rhine'') is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in the historical French–German enmity, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. The origi ...

''.

The Rhine Song

While the

French–German enmity French–German (Franco-German) enmity (french: Rivalité franco-allemande, german: Deutsch–französische Erbfeindschaft) was the idea of unavoidably hostile relations and mutual revanchism between Germans (including Austrians) and French peop ...

already was about 200 years old, it was inspired by the

Rhine crisis The Rhine crisis of 1840 was a diplomatic crisis between the Kingdom of France and the German Confederation, caused by the demand by French minister Adolphe Thiers that the river Rhine be reinstated as France's border in the east, at a loss of so ...

of 1840, caused by the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers, who again voiced demands that France should own the left bank of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

(described as France's "natural boundary"), as France had done decades earlier during Napoleons reign. In response, Becker wrote a poem called ''Rheinlied'', which contained the verse: ''"Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein ..."'' (''They shall not have him, the free, German Rhine''). This patriotic poem brought him much praise throughout Germany. The Prussian King

Friedrich Wilhelm IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

sent him 1000 Thaler, and King

Ludwig I of Bavaria en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

honoured him with a goblet. The "Rheinlied" was set to music over 70 times, amongst others by Robert Schumann, and other Rheinlied songs followed, the most famous being ''

''. The wording was mostly defensive. The French answered, with Alfred de Musset: ''"Nous l'avons eu, votre Rhin allemand"'' (''We've had him, your German Rhine'') rubbing salt into the wounds Napoleon and others had caused, while

Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

's "Peace

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 ...

" (1841) was peaceful. He published a volume of more poems in 1841, but none achieved much popularity.

External links

* * * *http://www.jhelbach.de/dichtung/rheinli.htm Der Rhein in der Lyrik 1809 births 1845 deaths Writers from Bonn Writers from North Rhine-Westphalia German patriotic songs German male poets 19th-century German poets 19th-century German male writers {{Germany-poet-stub