The Magic of Deutsche Kinderlieder: Traditional German Songs for Children

Exploring the timeless melodies of traditional German children's songs that have shaped generations and still shaping

When I landed in Germany a few years ago I had no idea about German songs. Who has at that stage? I still think if I weren't working as a kindergarten teacher I would probably never have discovered this treasure pit of pleasure!

I started working at a bilingual kindergarten where my German co teacher as much loved to sing as I loved to hear. She opened my ears to some of the most melodious and famous German songs that I may not otherwise have heard. Songs, that once entered my ears stubbornly refused to leave them for weeks on end; songs so devastatingly melodious that they wrung tears out of my eyes; songs whose melody gripped me with a crushingly sweet pain; songs that touched my soul, devoured me completely and made me feel strangely incomplete without them!

I fell madly in love with them! The songs! I sang them in busy crowded market squares alone by myself, hummed them at noisy U Bahn stations where no one would hear me and whistled them about freely like a lark who had forgotten how to stop herself from singing. To sing 'Leise rieselt der Schnee' or 'Schneeflockchen Weißröckchen', or 'Winter Ade..' I didn't care if it was winter or summer. I didn't wait for Christmas to sing 'Kling Glöckhen' or 'in der Weihnachnathcbäckerei'. I was smitten with them and the love affair that suddenly began then continues on unabated as if it had just started yesterday evening. I have never been able to get past children's songs to move over to other categories!

Rich musical heritage

There's a reason for falling in love with Deutsche Kinderlieder — Germany is home to some of the most renowned composers, producers and performers of the world. Germany is the largest music market in Europe, and the third largest in the whole world. German Classical is one of the most performed in the world. 

German composers include some of the most accomplished and popular in history, among them Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (also recognized as Austrian) was among the composers who created the field of German opera. One of the most famous film score composers is Hans Zimmer (Source Wikipedia)

A legacy of music that continues

This lends a remarkable, unmissable, incredible aura of excellence to a seemingly small thing like children's song. The songs are finest form of poetry, have deep philosophical meaning, convey spiritual messages and have nostalgic cascading melodies that are impossible to find anywhere else.

German songs for kids are full of melody and have astonishingly deep philosophy

Consider this bombshell lyric:Consider this bombshell lyric:

Froh zu sein bedarf es wenig und wer froh ist, ist ein König!
It means: It takes very little to be happy, and who is happy, is a king!

I could die at those words alone. But wait till you hear it being sung to music. It will ravish you with its simplicity and depth of meaning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N4SQmLxtos

A canon by August Mühling (sometime around 1842). Where else would one find such a pearl of wisdom clad in robes of poetry and bedecked with jewels of music while just being a song for children? Germany is the land where babies and children still fall asleep on Beethoven and Mozart' symphonies…

Speaking of sleep reminds me: Some of the most melodious and heart warming lullabies are in German. Here is the best German Lullaby 'Schlaf Kindlein schlaf…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFHDfaSben8

Most of German children's songs have originated in 19th century and have remained like that

Most of the current popular children's songs are supposed to have originated around the 19th century. Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben is said to have written more than 500 songs alone for children. Some of his famous songs that every German speaking child knows and sings are Alle Vögel sind schon da", "Ein Männlein steht im Walde", "Summ, summ, summ", Winter ade, scheiden tut weh", "Kuckuck, Kuckuck, ruft's aus dem Wald", "Der Kuckuck und der Esel", "A, a, a, der Winter der ist da", "Der Frühling hat sich eingestellt", and the Christmas song "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann".

Want to hear 'Winter Ade…' or 'Farewell winter…' rip your heart apart? This song certainly ripped mine in thousand pieces. It moves me to this day, and I still don't know why…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D1jKU--rIw

There's a song for every festival and every occasion

German songs are the same all over Germany

What I admire the most about them is one may roam over the length and breadth and every far off deep hidden corners of Germany the children learn and sing the same Easter, St. Martin's or Nikolaus songs.

So, songs act like a thread that holds all the parts of Germany and German children together in unity and uniformity!

Most traditional Christmas carols are actually German in origin

You will probably be amazed to know that some famous English Christmas carols are actually translations of original German Christmas songs or Weihnachtslieder.

The sheer beauty 'Silent night, Holy night' the whole world bows to, is actually German 'Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht...' written by Joseph Mohr, composed by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818, Salzburg Austria. It has been declared intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.
Similarly, 'Oh Christmas Tree' is direct translation of 'O Tannenbaum' was originally a traditional German folk song written by Ernst Anschütz in 1824.

Many popular English songs have also a direct German version

What's interesting, there are German versions of many popular English kindergarten songs like 'Wheels on the bus…', 'If you're happy and you know it', 'Are you sleeping brother John', 'Incy Wincy spider' as well as songs for entire complicated fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel.

I can only say that learning about German culture is incomplete without learning about its rich musical heritage and talking about music is incomplete without honorable mention of German Music.

But even more than that, for anyone who loves to hear music, German children's songs should be a must on his list! So far as I am concerned, I can only say that German Kinderlieder have made a permanent place in my heart. Neither my festivals, nor seasons nor my day to day kindergarten life is complete without these German songs!

But that's just my opinion. Thanks for reading.

This article was first published in The Local, an English Online Newspaper in 2018

https://www.thelocal.de/20181226/german-songs-for-children