"Des Geyers Schwarzer Haufen"- German Communist Song [Ernst Busch]

This version in particular is sung by the one and only Ernst Busch. The small speech given by him at the end is difficult to understand without proper context, but is mentioned by Marc Herrmann in his 2014 book on German music, "Historische Lieder im Unterricht: Didaktische Grundlagen und Unterrichtsbeispiele," pages 60–63.

Although "Setzt aufs Klosterdach den roten Hahn!" literally translates to "Set the Red Rooster up the monastery roof", the poetic translation is to set the monastery ablaze.


The song's title (translates. "We are Geyer's Black Bunch") and lyrics are references to Florian Geyer (1490 – 10 June 1525) and his Black Company, a heavy cavalry unit which fought on the side of the Peasants during the German Peasants' War. Geyer's Black Company was notorious with his contemporaries for their destruction of cathedrals, castles, and summary executions of clerics and noblemen. The song's lyrics capitalise on this notoriety, with references to the actions of the Black Company: "Setzt aufs Klosterdach den Roten Hahn!" ("Raise the red rooster [flames] upon the Cloister Roof!").

This song is not associated with the Nazis in any way, despite the fact that a particular SS Division used it as their marching song. It is worth noting that Communist Hungary also adopted a Hungarian version of the song, and the DDR commemmorated the Bauerkrieg by engraving the line, "Uns're Enkel fechten's besser aus" (meaning, "Our grandchildren will fight a better fight") on a memorial which commemorates the 1945 German Land Reform and the Peasant's War itself.

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Tags: #german #medieval #englishtranslation #landsknecht #germanfolksong #folksong #folkmusic #communist #antifascist #peasantswar