The Song of the Germans in South Africa

At the beginning of July I was invited to the Eastern Cape to be a presenter at a seminar in King William's Town celebrating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the German Settlers. It was a wonderful long weekend, and a great privilege to be a part of the event arranged by Stephanie Victor, the Curator of History at the Amathole Museum.

On July 4, the day before the seminar, I was catching up with Stephanie in her office at the museum and she showed me an interesting hand-written document. It was a song lyric for "Das Lied der Deutschen in Südafrika" - ostensibly "The Song of the Germans in South Africa". As time was tight (and my German rusty) I snapped a photo of the page for future reference.



Back in the United Kingdom I pulled up the photo and shot if off to my friend in Germany, Ingo Eggers, who transcribed the German and very kindly translated it into English. I also e-mailed Stephanie and asked her to provide me with some idea of the song's provenance. This is what she wrote back to me:

"The song was penned by Mrs W. Grunewald (nee Zehmke). She was interviewed by Desmond Kopke on 16.10.2000 when she was 87 years old. She grew up in Stutterheim and her husband worked for Nicholas and Mullin, a forestry company, at Fort Cunnynghame near Stutterheim. The song dates to the 1930s when a man by the name of Stracher, his wife and a young women only known as Gustie took the children on church camps for two weeks at a time. Mrs Grunewald was one of the children who participated and she remembers singing 'Das Lied der Deutschen' at the camps. Two-week camps were held at 'Fort Cunnynghame once and twice at Julius Muller’s that was just outside of Stutterheim and once at Berlin, that was a big empty house just when you pass Berlin.' It is possible that the camps were connected to the Lutheran Church.

According to Mrs Grunewald: 'We used to sing songs and hymns. It was nice you know all the young people together at camp. As I say, we were quite innocent then, but later when the war was on then we heard that he must have been a German spy, but I don’t know. He didn’t put us up against the English or anything.'

According to Mrs Grunewald the camps included: '... sports and exercises and cooking and setting the table and so on. And [the children were] from East London, King William's Town and Frankfort, Keiskamma Hoek and Stutterheim.' Two or three children were sent from each place. Hopefully the above provides you with some idea of the song's provenance but who originally wrote it still remains a mystery".

So, here it is, on the internet for the first time and also translated for your reading pleasure...

Das Lied der Deutschen in Südafrika

Wir sind viel tausend Deutschen
im heissen Afrika
getrennt durch Land und Meere
der Heimat dennoch nah
denn wir behalten behalten…

getreu die Jungen und die Alten
der Muttersprache gut
und wir behalten behalten
getreu die Jungen und die Alten
die Lieder frohgemut,
das deutsche Herz und Blut.

Wir tragen manche Sorgen
doch sind wir unverzagt
weil jetzt ein neuer Morgen
der alten Heimat tagt
und wir behalten behalten…

Wir schaffen und wir bauen
an einem fremden Strand,
mit festem Gottvertrauen
ein neues Heimatland
und wir behalten behalten…

The Song of the Germans in South Africa

We are many thousand Germans
in hot Africa
divided Separated by land and seas
the homeland however still near
because we treasure, treasure…

loyally [for] the Young and the Old
the mother-tongue dear
and we treasure, treasure…
loyally [for] the Young and the Old
the cheerful songs, [NOTE: also "songs of cheerful spirit"]
the German heart and blood.

We bear many worries
but we are undaunted
because now a new morning
is dawning for the old homeland
and we treasure, treasure…

We work and we build
on a strange shore
with steadfast faith in God
a new homeland
and we treasure, treasure…

With many thanks to Desmond Kopke, Mrs W. Grunewald, Stephanie Victor and Ingo Eggers. And, of course, to the German Settlers of 1858!

Cheers MAlfaRK ©