Hohe Tannen weisen die Sterne - Schlesisches Volkslied [Filmaufnahmen des deutschen Riesengebirges]

"Hohe Tannen weisen die Sterne" is a Silesian folk song first published in 1923 within the Bund deutscher Ringpfadfinder scout organisation. The melody derives from the Franconian song "Wahre Freundschaft soll nicht wanken" of the 18th century; the composer is unknown. The anonymously published text most likely arose in the context of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia and the cession of parts of the region to Poland, though the political message is not unambiguous. At the centre stands Rübezahl, the legendary mountain spirit of the Giant Mountains, who is invoked as guardian of homeland and people. The line "Volk und Heimat sind nimmermehr frei" and the invocation of Rübezahl as the guardian of a distant homeland took on an entirely new and painful meaning after 1945. The Giant Mountains, the Iser, the Silesian landscape evoked by the song — all of this was now lost territory from which millions of Germans had been expelled. What had begun in 1923 as a scout song with a vaguely political undertone thus became, unintentionally, the anthem of longing for the expelled Silesians: a song about a homeland far away, about a mountain spirit who watches over a world to which one may no longer return. Lyrics: Hohe Tannen weisen die Sterne von der Iser wildschäumender Flut. Liegt das Lager auch weit in der Ferne, doch du, Rübezahl, hütest es gut. Tall firs point the way to the stars above the Iser's wild and foaming flood. Though the camp lies far in the distance, you, Rübezahl, guard it well. Komm zu uns ans flackernde Feuer, in die Berge bei stürmischer Nacht! Schütz die Zelte, die Heimat, die teure, komm zu uns, halt mit uns treue Wacht! Come to us by the flickering fire, into the mountains on a stormy night! Protect the tents, the homeland so dear, come to us, keep faithful watch with us! Höre, Rübezahl, was wir klagen: Volk und Heimat ist nimmermehr frei! Schwing die Keule wie in alten Tagen, schlage Hader und Zwietracht entzwei! Hear, Rübezahl, what we lament: people and homeland are free no more! Swing your club as in days of old, strike discord and strife asunder!