Erika (or Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein) is a marching song of the German military. The song was composed by Herms Niel in the 1930s specifically for the Waffen-SS, but it soon came into usage by the Wehrmacht in general, especially the Heer and, to a lesser extent, the Kriegsmarine. The name "Erika" had been derived from the heather plant (German: Heide, Erika; Latin: Erica). Vast heather-yards are one of the proud symbols of German natural heritage. The song has also become traditional by the highly prussianized Chilean Army.
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The lyrics of the song were written by Niel, a German composer of marches. The exact year of the song's origin are not know; often the date is given as "about 1930,"[1] a date that, however, has not been substantiated. The song was originally published in 1938 by the publishing firm Louis Ortel in Großburgwedel. It was a great success even before the start of World War II.[2]
Niel, who in early May 1933 joined the NSDAP and was among others became a "leading" Kapellmeister at the Reichsarbeitdienst, created numerous marches that largely served the National Socialist propaganda campaigns. In particular the Reichpropagandaminister Joseph Goebbels, as Berszinski[2] writes, noticed early on that down-to-earth, simple songs were a useful propaganda tool. The more that the songs served as a departure from the hard reality into dreamful felicity and affected a sentimental love song idyll, the better the "true face of Nazi Germany" could be hidden behind the many soft minor-key notes. The close connection of National Socialism with the new technical mass media, especially film and radio, came to the contrary and swiftly ensured the popularity of the Nazi songs.[2]
The military hits and marches were the "answer closer approaching war." In all about 15,000 National Socialist songs were produced between 1933 and 1945, as well as about one and a half million sheets of documents that alone were related to music.[2]
The popularization and central connection of the song with National Socialist propaganda is clarified, among others, by the autobiographical record of Gregor von Rezzori about the Nazi radio programs of April 1945: "The days went with radio announcements. Victorious withdrawals and defenses. On the heath a little flower bloomed, bumm bumm. Our submarines had again sank tens of thousands of gross registered tons. Then we were going, going against England." The song also played a role in numerous fictional texts that were concerned with Nazi Germany. A prominent example is Walter Kempowski's novel Heile Welt.
The particular popularity of the song during World War II in Germany was now and then explained as resulting from its status among other popular songs with the names of girls that allowed soldiers of the Wehrmacht who had been drawn into battle to sing about girlfriends and wives they had left behind at home. The representation of the women ("Mägdelein") as a "waiting, devoted, loyal yet idolized woman" addressed the Nazis' propagandized cliche of the female's role as the "caring wife". Among soldiers, the lyrics were altered to include (more) direct sexual references.
Outside of Germany, the song was and is continued to be perceived as a typical part of the German treasury of songs and is indeed until this day mostly inseparably tied with the German Wehrmacht. For example, in 1983 for the ten-year anniversary of the junta in Chile, the song was a part of the repertoire of the marching band of a Chilean military battalion. An Afrikaans version of the song was the march of the South African Air Force Gymnasium until 1994. It was typically sung by conscripts at the end of basic training.
ERIKA
| German lyrics | Approximate translation |
|---|---|
| First stanza | |
|
Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein und das heißt Erika. |
On the heath a little flower blooms and it's called: Erika. |
| Second stanza | |
|
In der Heimat wohnt ein blondes Mägdelein und das heißt: Erika. |
Back home lives a little blonde girl and she's called: Erika. |
| Third stanza | |
|
In mein'm Kämmerlein blüht auch ein Blümelein und das heißt: Erika. |
Another little flower blooms in my small room and it's called: Erika. |