German songs and the French Foreign Legion

Discussions on the music in the Third Reich. Hosted by Ivan Ž.
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Ivan Ž.
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German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#1

Post by Ivan Ž. » 28 Apr 2005, 13:12

I have heard many postwar French Foreign Legion covers of famous German (mostly Third-Reich-period) songs.

Can anyone explain to me what was the connection between the French Foreign Legion and the Third Reich?
Why are they still singing so many German songs?

Every info is welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Ivan

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Sdt
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#2

Post by Sdt » 19 Jun 2005, 01:05

Hello Ivan,

I maybe have an explanation taken from a french site. During the war, there was germans in the FL and the LVF among the others nationalities. They may have brought these songs/tunes. But without none ideologic link.

Also in the Indochina war, these same germans have participated to the conflict. That is why you can find songs such "Contre les Viets" (Against the Vietnameses).

There a lot of songs which can mean something for a country/group and a thing totally opposed for another. Here it would be the political point of view : sing in german or with a german tune does not strictly means something. The songs cross the ideologic point of view.


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TISO
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#3

Post by TISO » 04 Jul 2005, 21:36

As far as i read some books about legion it was in beggining almost all German. After Napoleonic wars a lot of former foreign soldiers (mostly German) of Grand Armee with no wars to fight anymore were conscripted into Legion. With them traditional German soldier songs came ( Anne Marie). Germans were always present in Legion (one of the most decorated privates in the ww1 was german). This was reinforced after the WW2 with large influx of Germans ( former Whermacht, waffen SS). German songs became a kind of legion's folklore.

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#4

Post by Ivan Ž. » 05 Jul 2005, 03:33

Thanks, Thomas and TISO.

Can anyone tell me more about the French Foreign Legion activities during WWII?

Cheers,
Ivan

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David Lehmann
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#5

Post by David Lehmann » 06 Jul 2005, 00:45

Hello Ivan,

In one of my previous post you may find elements that could interest you : http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=64413

Regards,
David

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#6

Post by Ivan Ž. » 06 Jul 2005, 19:03

Thanks, David!

Cheers,
Ivan

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#7

Post by Kurt_Steiner » 24 Jul 2005, 19:24

When I was a kid I read a narration of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, and it always caught my imagination one scene -among many- of the battle itself: Christmas Day, the French units deployed there had a Mass and they sang "Stille Nacht" and after it, "Lili Marlen" -perhaps not a Xmas Carrol but a wonderful song, all in all ;) -. It's just an anecdote that I cannot say if it is true or not, but I wanted to share it.

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#8

Post by Ivan Ž. » 24 Jul 2005, 19:30

A fine anecdote, thanks for sharing :)

Cheers,
Ivan

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#9

Post by Cpl.Hank » 07 Apr 2016, 14:54

I am a former Cpl in the Legion. The Legion had German regiments but that isn't why they have Nazi songs. All the regiments were divided by race, not all were German nor were most of them German. After the 2nd world war the Legion was depleted and needed recruits. They went to POW camps and told prospects that they could join the Legion or die. Heavily recruited were SS and Gestapo officers. The intelligence bureau of the Legion is today called the Gestapo. Those Nazi's that were forced into the Legions ranks became the officers and even Generals of the legion. The songs though reworded are now considered to be part of Legion tradition. The Legion though should not be thought of as being Pro-Nazi or sympathetic to its beliefs. There exist a fence at the HQ base lining the most sacred ground of the Legion. The fence is made from linked Nazi gorgets, many with bullets holes in them, or other signs of war. Also I had a friend who got a Nazi tattoo with the German eagle and swastica, he was made to black out the swastica.

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German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#10

Post by Sauerkraut » 01 Jun 2018, 23:16

It is well known that after World War II many German soldiers were recruited in the French Foreign Legion, that was keen on getting already experienced men for it’s upcoming fights in Indochina.

It has had an impact on the FFL’s song repertoire that can be felt to this day.

The French pace is generally slower (especially in the Legion, where marching rhythm is only 80 steps/ minute), and the text is sometimes freely adapted, sometimes translated closely.

Here is a list of German songs and their French versions; many of them are also widely sang in “regular” units. In non-Legion versions some words change depending on the units, for instance “Légionnaires” can be replaced by “Parachutistes”…

I think it might be prudent to mention beforehand that the Legion has absolutely nothing to do with Nazism, and that these songs where sung proudly also by French officers that had been in the resistance and or in deportation… So if some people wanted to use that to make unfounded claims about the Legion, they will be the only responsibles for this!!! Simply the Legion has for a long time (at least from it’s creation until the aftermath of WW2) recruited mainly German citizen, and this is the only thing to be illustrated by this topic.

So here goes the list.
- Bombenfliegerlied der "Legion Condor": "Nous sommes tous des volontaires" (song of 1er RE)
- Lied der "Legion Condor": "La Légion marche" (song of the 2eme REP). There was a French version (Le chant du Diable) sung by the French volunteers in the Waffen-SS, the modern version as been pretty much "cleaned up"; still nowadays, although the devil is still present in the official text, I heard from a guy who served there that some officers are (were?) not comfortable with this and would prefer to have their men replacing it by "St. Michel" (Saint Michael is the Saint of the French paratroopers).
- In Sanssouci, am Mühlenberg: "Veronika".
- Lebe wohl, du kleine Monika: "Monika".
- Lili Marleen: "Chez nous au troisième", "Lily Marlene", and also sung in German.
- Panzer rollen in Afrika vor: "Connaissez-vous ces hommes".
- Panzerwagenlied: "Képis blancs"; the song is still very popular and is sung at the ceremony when new Légionnaires get the right to wear the Képi.
- Das Lied der Fallschirmjäger: "Le soleil brille".
- Auf Kreta: "En Afrique malgré le vent, la pluie". In one regular army paratroop regiment (1er RCP) it also has a version "Au terrain". * the refrain melody of "En Afrique" was taken from "Wohl ist die Welt so groß und weit"
- Edelweiß: "L’edelweiss".
- Heia Safari!: "La petite piste", also popular in the regular army.
- Ich hatt' einen Kameraden: "J’avais un camarade", also popular in regular units. The German original is in the Legion songbook, alongside with the French version. French cavalry of the regular army has its version: "La cavalcade".
- Westerwaldlied: sung in German. Out of the Legion, the 3rd Marine Parachute Regiment (3eme RPIMa, ex Colonial Parachute Regiment) sings a French text on the same air, "Si tu crois en ton destin".
- Die blauen Dragoner / Weit ist der Weg zurück ins Heimatland / Steig' ich den Berg hinauf: "Souvenir qui passe" (I think the second German song was actually adopted from a British song, so the French version might be adopted from one or from the other...) * the melody of "Weit ist der Weg zurück ins Heimatland" is indeed British: "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag"
- Wildgänse rauschen durch die Nacht: "Les oies sauvages". The fourth verse is in German, first of the original. In the officer school of the French army it is also sung; I’ve heard it was also popular amongst the French mercenaries in Africa in the 1960s…
- Im Frühtau zu Berge: "Les lansquenets". Also sung in regular army earlier, by now it is there forbidden (or informally forbidden, I am not sure) because it is very popular amongst far right movements. * the melody of "Im Frühtau zu Berge" is Swedish: "Vi gå över daggstänkta berg"
- Vom Barette schwankt die Feder: "Honneur, fidélité".
- Die dunkle Nacht ist nun vorbei: "Contre les Rouges" (Against the Reds) was a song of the French volunteers against the communists on the Eastern front; it was slightly modified to become "Contre les Viets" (Against the Viets) and became the song of the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion; this battalion (by then regiment) was dissolved, but it is still the song of many companies in various Legion regiments nowadays!
- Lied der Moorsoldaten: "Le chant des marais", sung also in non-Legion regiments. * "Lied der Moorsoldaten" is a KZ song (anti-Nazi)
- Annemarie, wo geht die Reise hin: "Anne Marie du 2eme REI".
- Mein Nam’ ist Annemarie: "Anne Marie du 3eme REI".
- Es steht eine Mühle im Schwarzwälder Tal: "Il est un moulin".

So out of 65 songs in the 2014 Legion songbook (64 actually, "Honneur, fidélité" not being in it for some reason, but it is sung, a 100% sure), we have at least 20 originating from Germany, and I might not know some German original versions!

Besides that, the 64 also include songs in German that seem to have been written specifically for the Legion:
- Schwarze Rose von Oran * a post-war German song, not written for the Legion
- Kameraden, wir haben die Welt gesehen * a post-war German song, not written for the Legion
_________
A bit of topic, but still relevant:
- Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen is in French "Les chacals"; the same can be said about it, as for "Im Frühtau zu Berge" (Les lansquenets), but it might have been sung in the army some decades ago.
- The Landsknecht song Wir zogen in das Feld is sung under the title "Le kyrie des gueux" (not in the army, as far as I know).

In the regular French army :
- Matrosenlied (Wir fahren gegen Engelland) is "Oh la fille" (mostly a Paratroopers song).
- Flandrischer Totentanz (Der Tod von Flandern) is "La mort".

[German titles and the rest of the list corrected + a couple of comments in red added by the host, Ivan Ž.]

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Re: German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#11

Post by Sauerkraut » 02 Jun 2018, 01:25

Thank you Ivan for all the corrections and comments! I had never noticed the similarity between "Die blauen Dragoner" and "Souvenir qui passe"!
Last edited by Sauerkraut on 02 Jun 2018, 02:18, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#12

Post by Ivan Ž. » 02 Jun 2018, 02:01

Cheers and thanks for taking the time to compile this interesting list. Any additions / further corrections are always welcome.

Ivan

PS
I've merged your post with an older thread dealing with the same subject.

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Re: German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#13

Post by Sauerkraut » 02 Jun 2018, 02:18

I would like to add that "Wenn alle untreu werden" has french version, "Chant de fidélité". Not a military song as far as I know, though. According to a book I've read about the Waffen-SS (Jean Mabire "La division Charlemagne"), the air is that of a french hunting horn call, on which were put german words in 1813. Could you confirm or infirm that there really was a "SS-Treuelied" written on the same air? Or was it the same words?

Can a complete version of "Die dunkle Nacht ist nun vorbei" be found on the internet? I couldn't find it, except a short part in "Das Gewehr über"... I think "Komm mit, Kamerad" is also on the same air! But it is much, much faster in german than in french, so at first I was not sure.

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Re: German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#14

Post by Ivan Ž. » 02 Jun 2018, 02:48

Sauerkraut wrote:I would like to add that "Wenn alle untreu werden" has french version, "Chant de fidélité".
The melody of "Chant de fidélité" is the melody of "Pour aller à la chasse faut être matineux". So it is a French song with another French song's melody.
Sauerkraut wrote:Could you confirm or infirm that there really was a "SS-Treuelied" written on the same air? Or was it the same words?
The SS simply used the old song "Wenn alle untreu werden" as their anthem (Treuelied). The song was sung to the melody of "Pour aller à la chasse faut être matineux" or to the melody of "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe" (today best known as the Dutch anthem). The SS used both melodies and the original lyrics, written by Max von Schenkendorf in 1814.
Sauerkraut wrote:Can a complete version of "Die dunkle Nacht ist nun vorbei" be found on the internet? I couldn't find it, except a short part in "Das Gewehr über"... I think "Komm mit, Kamerad" is also on the same air! But it is much, much faster in german than in french, so at first I was not sure.

Yes, "Komm mit, Kamerad" was indeed set to the melody of "Die dunkle Nacht ist nun vorbei", an NS workers' song composed by G. Blumensaat. (An excellent tune, by the way!) Unfortunately, I know of no complete versions of the original Blumensaat's song.

Cheers,
Ivan

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Re: German songs and the French Foreign Legion

#15

Post by Ivan Ž. » 02 Jun 2018, 12:16

Addition:

In Flandern sind viele gefallen: "La Colonne" (the Nazis also covered the old song, changing it to "In München sind viele gefallen").
Trink'n wir noch ein Tröpfchen: "Suzanna".

There was also a French paratroopers' cover of the German "Seeräuberlied", called "Debout les Paras".

Cheers,
Ivan

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