Ich Hab' Mich Ergeben

"Ich hab mich ergeben" (; ), originally titled "Gelübde" (; 'Vow'), is a German patriotic song. The text was written in 1820 by Hans Ferdinand Maßmann.

As singing the traditional anthem, the "Deutschlandlied", starting with the line ''"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"'' ("Germany, Germany above all else"), didn't seem appropriate after Germany's surrender in World War II, the double meaning of the line '''Ich hab mich ergeben','' which means '''I have surrendered''' in literal translation, but in the context of this song's lyrics also '''I am devoted to thee, made this song one of the favorites for a national anthem in post-war Germany. As such, it was one of the unofficial national anthems of West Germany from 1949 until 1952, and in national radio it was played even since 1945 before intermission. However, public interest in the song declined before the ''Deutschlandlied'' was officially reinstated, of which only the third stanza is sung ever since.

Two Christmas carols use the same tune: the English " God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and the Swedish " När juldagsmorgon glimmar". The tune is also used in the Micronesian national anthem, a cultural realm which has been historically influenced by German colonial presence.

History

The national anthem of the Federated States of Micronesia, "Patriots of Micronesia", uses the same tune, as does the Estonian song "Mu Isamaa armas" ("My beloved native land" by Martin Körber) which used to be Estonia's official flag song until 2009 when it was replaced by Gustav Ernesaks's "Mu Isamaa on minu arm" ("My homeland is my love"). The Latvian song
Šie kauli, šī miesa
also has the same tune. The melody is quoted by Johannes Brahms in his ''Academic Festival Overture''. The Deutschlandfunk used the motif to the words "dir Land voll Lieb und Leben" as its interval signal.

The second stanza includes the words "land of the free", similar to the well-known words of "The Star-Spangled Banner", written eight years earlier.

Lyrics

Melody

\header
\layout
global =

soprano = \relative c''

alto = \relative c'

tenor = \relative c

bass = \relative c

verse = \lyricmode

\score

Arrangement: Friedrich Gernsheim
"125 Gelübde"
in ', vol. 1, Leipzig, C. F. Peters 1906.

"Wir hatten gebauet"

The music had originally been composed for another patriotic song by August Daniel von Binzer, "Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus" (1819). Some sources state that in this song the colours Black, Red, and Gold are mentioned for the first time in this order which is not true. In 1817, Binzer had written a different song that begins with the words ''"Stoßt an! Schwarz-Rot-Gold lebe!"'' (Let's toast! May Black, Red and Gold live!)

The song's first performance took place on 27 January 1819 after the forced dissolution of the '' Urburschenschaft''. Around one year later, he wrote it down in the register of the participants of the 1817 Wartburg Festival. There, he called the tune a "Thuringian folk song", but no evidence of such earlier melody exists. The lyrics were published for the first time in the ''Kieler Commers- und Liederbuch'' in 1821, the tune followed in 1825.

The text refers to the dissolution of the Urburschenschaft ("A noble house") due to the Carlsbad Decrees. During the ''Vormärz'', censorship often replaced the colours with lines.

References

External links

*

"Ich hab mich ergeben"
text, notes chords; Alojado Lieder Archiv


ingeb.org

{{Portal bar, Germany

1819 songs
German songs
1949 establishments in West Germany
1952 disestablishments in West Germany
National symbols of Germany
German patriotic songs
Songs in German
Historical national anthems
Wir hatten gebauet