Wanke nicht, mein Vaterland ("Do not falter, my fatherland"), also known as ''Schleswig-Holstein, meerumschlungen'' ("Schleswig-Holstein, embraced by the sea") or ''Schleswig-Holstein-Lied'' is the unofficial anthem of Schleswig-Holstein. It was written in 1844 and presented at the ''Schleswiger Sängerfest''. The tune was written by (1772–1862). The text had originally been written by Berlin-based lawyer Karl Friedrich Straß (1803–1864) but rewritten by (1815–1870) shortly before the start of the ''Sängerfest'' in order to represent the then atmosphere in a better way. The song expresses the wish for a united, independent and German Schleswig-Holstein.

History

Middle Ages

Following the death of Adolphus VIII, childless duke of Schleswig and count of Holstein, in 1459 the nobility was keen to preserve the unity of both countries under the rule of one monarch. After the failure of the first attempts to find a successor, the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

king Christian I came into consideration. In 1460, he was finally elected after having granted certain privileges to the nobility, amongst others the independence of Schleswig and Holstein from the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...

. According to the ''Ripener Urkunde'', no legal link existed between Schleswig, Holstein and Denkmark, save the personal union. It furthermore assured that „dat se bliven ewich tosamende ungedelt“ ("that they chleswig and Holsteinremain united forever").

19th century

After the wars of liberation against Napoleonic hegemony had caused national bankruptcy for Denmark in 1813, the population of Schleswig and Holstein were taxed stronger than the

populace by a currency reform. Thus, the rivalry between Germans and

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

became fiercer. The southern

duchies A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

of Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg had already been constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire before 1806 and of the German Confederation in 1815 whereas the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ( ...

was a Danish fief with the Danish king as duke and liege. In 1840,

was introduced as official language in Northern Schleswig but the attempt to make Danish equal to German in the entire duchy failed due to the assembly of estates loyal to the German cause.

''Schleswiger Sängerfest''

In the context of the German national movement of the 19th century, ''Sängerfeste'' (Festivals of Singers) with a political background took place throughout Germany (for example the Hambacher Fest). Following this tradition, Schleswig had its ''Sängerfest'' in 1844 where Matthäus Friedrich Chemnitz presented his song ''Wanke nicht, mein Vaterland'', a rewritten version of a poem by Karl Friedrich Straß, in which he uttered his wish for a united, independent and German Schleswig-Holstein, which is the reason why he famously replaced the

comma The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...

of Straß's version with a hyphen, thus stressing the union between both countries. His version of the song became immensely popular during the ''Sängerfest'' and was promoted to a sort of "battle song" for

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

and independence.

1848–1866

German Empire - Prussia - Schleswig Holstein (1871)

The political tensions culminated in the First Schleswig War of 1848 that ended three years later with the victory of Denmark without resolving the underlying problems. The Danish government pledged to reinstall the Danish state in its former form, thus granting every part of it the same rights. In 1855, the Danish government designed a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

constitution that was rejected by the assembly of estates of Holstein and declared invalid by the '' Bundestag'' in Frankfurt three years later. In 1863, Denmark finally introduced a common constitution for both the

and the

. This violation of the agreement of 1851/1852 led to outrage in Germany. As Denmark refused to abolish this constitution in 1864, the Second Schleswig War broke out, this time ending with German victory. Thereafter, Austria and Prussia administered the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg together. After the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866, Prussia annexed the duchies, forming the Province of Schleswig-Holstein.

Lyrics

Original lyrics by Karl Friedrich Straß (1844)Stendal, Gertrud Stendal. ''Die Heimathymnen der preußischen Provinzen und ihrer Landschaften − Eine literarische Charakteristik.'' Heidelberg: Carl Winters Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1919. Page 68
Online on www.archive.org

Explanation of the lyrics

The "double oak" refers to a tree with two different trunks that grows separately but is nonetheless united. "Under the roof of one crown" expresses the wish to have a common government. The "threatening north" and the "mild south" allude to Denmark and Germany respectively. The "wild breakwaters" are bothersome foreign influences, and "inner tempests" apply to conflicts within Schleswig.

References

External links

The anthem on the website of the Society for the History of Schleswig-HolsteinFirst stanza
of the song on YouTube. {{Authority control German patriotic songs German poems