"Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter" (Prince Eugene, the noble knight) is an Austrian-German folksong about the victory of

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

in 1717 during the

Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) The Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) was fought between Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz was not an acceptable permanent agreement for the Ottoman Empire. Twelve years after Karlowitz, it began the long ...

. It tells of the bravery of Prince Eugene, his companion Prince Ludwig who lost his life in the battle, and their soldiers in defeating the Turks and recovering the city of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

for the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. The oldest known record of the song comes from a handwritten songbook of 1719. The lyricist is unknown.

Theme

The song is a narrative of the Siege of Belgrade (1717). The text diverts from historical accuracy in two aspects. The day of the final assault on the defenders is given as the 21 August although it was 16 August. Second, the song tells of the death of one Prince Louis (Prinz Ludewig). Eugene had two brothers named Louis but none of them fell at Belgrade. The younger one, Louis Julius (1660–1683) who had entered Imperial service prior to Eugene was killed by

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

at Petronell, whereas the older one, Louis Thomas (1657–1702) had died at the

Siege of Landau (1702) The siege of Landau took place from 16 June to 12 September 1702, during the War of the Spanish Succession. An Holy Roman Empire, Imperial army led by Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden captured Landau, a fortress town in the Rhineland-Palat ...

Background and legacy

The author of the song is unknown. The melody derives from "" (When the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

heard that the Turks were at Vienna) (1683) and has also later been adopted in the period before the

German revolutions of 1848–1849 The German revolutions of 1848–1849 (), the opening phase of which was also called the March Revolution (), were initially part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many European countries. They were a series of loosely coordinated p ...

to "" (Whether we

ear In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear co ...

red or yellow collars), the from 1845 by Adalbert Harnisch.

Josef Strauss Josef Strauss (20 August 1827 – 22 July 1870) was an Austrian composer. He was born in Mariahilf (now Vienna), the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to cho ...

composed in 1865 his Prinz Eugen March, Op. 186, for the unveiling of a statue of Prince Eugene at the

Heldenplatz Heldenplatz () is a public space in front of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt borough, the President of Austria resides in the adjoining Hofburg wing, while the Federal Chancellery is on adjacent Ballhausplatz ...

in Vienna; it uses elements of the folksong. Likewise,

Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough known for ...

quotes this folk song in the last

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

of his

art song An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

"Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter", set to words by Ferdinand Freiligrath.

Lyrics

"Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter"
lieder-archiv.de

Melody

\header \paper \layout global = tenorVoice = \relative g verse = \lyricmode \score \score

References

External links

text in German and Latin, melody, ingeb.org

Jean-Louis Vial
"A more poetic translation"
by Bluteisen, deviantart.com {{Authority control Folk ballads 18th-century ballads Austrian patriotic songs German folk songs German patriotic songs Cultural depictions of Prince Eugene of Savoy