Die Batterien vom Edelweiß (Die Augen so blank...)

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Die Batterien vom Edelweiß (Die Augen so blank...)

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Post by Ivan Ž. » 18 Jul 2020, 19:59

"Die Batterien vom Edelweiß", an artillery song written in 1916 by Joseph von Lauff (who served as an artillery officer and a war correspondent). Several composers composed music (the same year) to von Lauff's lyrics: Friedrich Schmidt, Hans Richard Weinhoppel (as "Hannes Ruch") and Johann Lewalter. The song was later covered by SA-Sturmführer Horst Wessel as "So hell das Auge" (however, it's not clear whose melody/melodies was/were used for his version of the song). During WWII, Wessel's version became a mountain troopers song.

The attached lyrics were published in the American-German newspaper "Detroiter Abendpost" (Detroit Evening Post) on 25 September 1916 (half a year before USA entered WWI), in a section entitled "Kriegspoesien" (War Poetry).
DAP 25-09-1916.jpg
Source: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... d-1/seq-2/

Cheers,
Ivan

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