The Großer Zapfenstreich ("Grand Tattoo") is a military ceremony performed in Germany and Austria. It is similar to the military tattoo ceremony carried out in English-speaking countries, and is the most important ceremonial act executed by the German federal armed forces, the Bundeswehr. The Zapfenstreich is performed only on the occasion of national celebrations and solemn public ceremonies, or to honour distinguished persons at such special events as the leave-taking ceremony for German presidents; also at the conclusion of large military exercises. It takes place in the evening hours and consists of a military formation including at least one military band, two platoons of armed infantrymen and two lines of soldiers carrying torches, all in all about 400 men.
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The Zapfenstreich originated in the military as a sign of the end of daily activities in both field and garrison. The term was mentioned for the first time in 1596. The Saxon major Hans von Fleming described this military custom for the first time in detail in his book The Perfect German Soldier (1726). The Zapfenstreich was a trumpet signal to end the selling of liquor in the military quarters and to prepare for lights out. To underline that order, the sergeant major walked across the military camp and hit the taps of the casks with a stick (streichen is an old German word for "to hit"). In 1813 the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III witnessed the evening ceremony of the Russian army after the battle of Großgörschen near Berlin. He was deeply impressed of the religious parts of the ceremony, especially of a choral version of the Lord's Prayer. As a reaction the king ordered a similar religious act to become part of the Prussian Zapfenstreich. About 20 years later, in 1838, the Zapfenstreich in its current appearance was designed by the Prussian music director Wilhelm Wieprecht, when he arranged a so called "monstre concert" for the Prussian king and his guest, the tsar of Russia, in Potsdam. Over 1,000 musicians performed the Prussian tattoo signals, a new composed tattoo march and the choral "Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe" ("I pray to the power of love"), which was composed by the Russian musician Dmytro Bortniansky, while the text was written by Gerhard Tersteegen. Later on, after the founding of the German Reich in 1871, the emperor's hymn Heil Dir im Siegerkranz became part of the Zapfenstreich, but was only played when the emperor was present during the ceremony. After World War I the new national anthem, the "Deutschlandlied" by Hoffmann von Fallersleben, replaced the old imperial hymn in 1922.
The word Zapfenstreich ("strike the tap") is similar to the Dutch "tap toe", from which the English word tattoo comes. Like the tattoo military ceremony, it is based around retiring from the day's work.
The Großer Zapfenstreich in its current form originated in the first half of the 19th century during the reign of Prussian king Frederick William III. It featured troops presenting arms, a prayer and a military song. During the wars of liberation the expansion of the tap caper, as arranged 1813, followed thereby the example of Russia, Austria and Sweden.
The form of the Großer Zapfenstreich changed several times, but was arranged by the Friedrich Wilhelm Wieprecht, then director of music of the music corps of the Prussian Guard Corps. It was first performed on 12 May 1838 in Berlin in honour of the Russian Czar Nicholas I. After the Prussian victory against France in 1871, a band arrangement of a Russian Orthodox hymn was added as a prayer. Since 1922, a rendition of the national anthem "Deutschlandlied" has taken place at the conclusion of the ceremony. When foreign heads of state or military units are guests, their respective national anthems are played.
The German Democratic Republic reinstated the Großer Zapfenstreich in 1962 in an updated version, supplementing the traditional German ceremony with music based on "elements of the progressive military inheritance" including the song "For the Peace of the World" by Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich and a medley of songs and marches drawn from the German and international working-class movements. The hymn was replaced by a Russian funeral march honoring the martyrs of the Russian and German revolutions. The GDR national anthem, of course, replaced the Deutschlandlied. Other elements of the traditional Prussian ceremony—especially the torchlight procession, flourishes, and the Zapfenstreich March—were retained. The additions were an opening fanfare, inspection report of the unit commander, with the unit at present arms and eyes right, the presentation of the National People's Army Color by the unit color party, two fanfare calls by the fanfare section and kettle drummers and the parade march past after the reformation of the torchbearers.
West Germany/Germany(1952-53-present)
East Germany (1962–89)
The Großer Zapfenstreich consists of four components:
The Großer Zapfenstreich is the highest honor that the German Federal Armed Forces can render to a civilian. Two of the most impressive "Große Zapfenstreiche" were those to farewell the allied troops in Berlin in 1994 and on the occasion of the departure from office of the German chancellor Helmut Kohl in Speyer in 1998.
People who are entitled to be honoured with a "Großer Zapfenstreich" are:
Participants in the Großer Zapfenstreich involve at least a military band with an additional fifes and drums corps, two escort platoons, and an honor formation of torch carriers.
There may be regional variations. For example, the performance of the "Großer Zapfenstreich" in Bavaria differs slightly from the one above: instead of the "Prussian Tattoo March" the "Bavarian Tattoo March" is played, and instead of the "Gebet: Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe" the "Bavarian Military Prayer" by Johann Caspar Aiblinger is played. The Saxon variant march, the "Saxon Tattoo March" is played when a Grand Tattoo is held in Saxony.
There have been calls for the abolition of the Großer Zapfenstreich. The well-known politician Hans Koschnick of the Social Democratic Party labelled it "predemocratic" and "obsolete". In 1996, the Party of Democratic Socialism and the Green Party unsuccessfully motioned for the ceremony, or at least the prayer, to be abolished.
The Grosser Zapfenstreich is also performed on civil occasions, or else called for by event organizers. The difference is that civilian Marching bands and civilian Corps of Drums are separated but play together during the ceremony. Fanfare bands (the German Fanfarenzug and Fanfarenkorps) are optional participants of the ceremony. They also have torchbearer formations, just like in the military version.
Some ceremonies call for armed civilian companies while others opt for unarmed escorts. Special uniforms are worn by the civilian escort companies for the ceremony. In some towns and cities, colors guards are also a part of the ceremony, with the Flag of Germany and the Flag of Europe as first in precedence among all the flags.