Sacred · War and march · c. 1218 · Europe
Palästinalied (Palestine Song)
Palästinalied
A song from about 800 years ago by the German poet Walther, about a pilgrim who reaches the Holy Land.
- Words
- Walther von der Vogelweide
- Music
- Walther von der Vogelweide (melody possibly a contrafactum of Jaufre Rudel's Lanquan li jorn)
- Culture
- German crusaders and pilgrims; the Middle High German courtly poets
- Language
- Middle High German
- Place
- German lands of the Holy Roman Empire (exact place not known)
- Date
- early 13th century, at the time of the Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)
- Type
- Sacred · War and march
- The words
- Public domain (lyrics by Walther von der Vogelweide (early 13th century))
The story
The Palästinalied ("Palestine Song") is a song written in the early 13th century by Walther von der Vogelweide, the most celebrated lyric poet of Middle High German literature. It was written at the time of the Fifth Crusade (1217-1221). It is one of the few songs by Walther for which a melody has survived, and that melody has been suggested to be a contrafactum, a new text set to an existing tune, of the 12th-century troubadour Jaufre Rudel's song Lanquan li jorn.
The song tells the Christian gospel from the point of view of a pilgrim setting foot in the Holy Land. Its closing stanza turns to the crusades themselves: it notes that Christians, Jews and Muslims (the "heathens" of the text) all claim the land, and declares the Christian claim the just one, asking God to grant it.
The words survive in several medieval manuscripts that do not agree on their length. The oldest is the Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (manuscript A, c. 1270), with seven stanzas; the Codex Manesse (manuscript C, c. 1304) has nine, and other manuscripts add four more, for thirteen distinct stanzas in all. One of these is clearly later than the original, and scholars do not agree whether the other five not found in manuscript A are Walther's. The melody is first written down in the Münster fragment (manuscript Z), about a century after Walther's death. The Carmina Burana manuscript (c. 1230) already gives the first stanza with neumes, though too few to rebuild the tune, as an appendix to the Latin song Alte clamat Epicurus, which was to be sung to the same melody.
From the 1970s, and especially with the rise of medieval rock, neofolk and related styles in the late 1980s and 1990s, the Palästinalied became a staple of such music and is now well known to modern audiences, chiefly through German bands such as Ougenweide (1974), Corvus Corax (1991), Qntal (1995), Estampie (1996) and In Extremo (1998). A 2002 compilation, Palästinalied-Projekt, gathers twenty performances, and the first movement of Lou Harrison's String Quartet Set takes much of its melody from the song.
What it says
The song speaks as a pilgrim who has at last reached the land where Christ lived, and it retells the gospel story as bound to that land. Its mood is of awe and fulfilment. Its close moves from devotion to the politics of the crusades, asserting the Christian right to the land against the other faiths that claim it.
The words
Alrerst lebe ich mir werde· sit min sv́ndig ǒge siht·Only now do I live in worth in my own eyes, since my sinful eye sees
dc reine lant vnd ǒch die erde·the pure land and the soil as well
der man so vil eren giht·to which people ascribe so much honour.
es ist geschehen des ich ie bat·What I always prayed for has come to pass:
ich bin komen an die stat· da got menschlichen trat·I have come to the place where God walked in human form.
Schoͤnv́ lant rich vnd here·Beautiful lands, rich and splendid,
swc ich der noch han gesehen·whatever of them I have seen so far,
so bist dvs ir aller ere·you are the honour of them all.
wc ist wunders hie geschehen·What a wonder has happened here!
das ein magt ein kint gebar·That a maiden bore a child,
here vber aller engel schar·lord over all the host of angels:
wc das niht ein wunder gar·was that not a wonder entirely?
Hie lies er sich reine tǒfen·Here he, the pure one, let himself be baptised,
dc der mensche reine si·so that mankind might be pure.
do lies er sich hie verkǒfen·Then he let himself be sold here,
dc wir eigen wurden fri·so that we who were bondsmen became free.
anders weren wir verlorn·Otherwise we would have been lost.
wol dir sper crúce vnd dorn·Hail to you, spear, cross and thorn!
wie dir ze den ist din zorn·[this line is unclear in the manuscript]
Show all 67 lines
Do er sich wolte vber vns erbarmen·When he wished to have mercy on us,
do leit er den grimmen tot·then he suffered the cruel death,
er vil rich vber vns vil armenn·he, so mighty, for us who were so poor,
dc wir komen vs der not· dc in do des niht verdros·so that we might come out of our distress. That it did not irk him then,
dast ein wunder al zegros· aller wunder vber genos·that is a wonder far too great, surpassing all wonders.
Hinnen fůr der svn zehelle·From here the Son went to hell,
von dem grabe dâr inne lac·from the grave in which he lay.
dest der vanter ie geselle·In this the Father was ever his companion [?],
vnd der geist den nieman mac·and the Spirit, whom no one can
svnder scheiden es si ein·set apart: it is one,
sleht vnd ebener danne ein zein·straight and smoother than an arrow-shaft,
als er abrahame erschein·as he appeared to Abraham.
Do er den tievel also geschande·When he had so put the devil to shame
das nie keiser bas gestreit·that no emperor ever fought better,
do fůr er her wider zelande·then he came back here to the land.
do hv̊b sich do der ivden leit·Then the grief of the Jews began:
dc er herre ir hv̊te brach·that he, the lord, broke through their guard,
vnd dc man in sit lebendig sach·and that he was seen alive afterwards,
den ir hant slůg vnd stach·he whom their hand struck and pierced.
IN dc lant hat er gesprochen·In this land he has pronounced
einen angeslichen tac· da der weise wirt gerochen·a fearful day, when the orphan will be avenged
vnd dv́ witwe klagen mag·and the widow may bring her complaint,
vnd der arme den gewalt· den man hat mit in gestalt·and the poor man the violence that was done to them.
wol im dort der hie vergalt·Well for him there who made amends here.
Vnserre lantrehter tihten· vristet da niemans klage·Our local judges' scheming delays no one's suit there,
wan er wil da ze stunt rihten·for he will judge there at once:
so ist es an dem lesten tage·so it is on the last day.
vnd swer deheine schulde hie lat·And whoever leaves any debt here
vnverebent [126v] wie der stat·unsettled, how will he fare
dort da er pfant noch búrgen hat·there, where he has neither pledge nor guarantor?
Ir lat v́ch nit verdriesen·Do not let it weary you,
das ich noch gesprochen han·what I have said so far;
so wil ich die rede entsliêssen·now I will unlock the matter
kvrzwilen vnd ǒch wissen lan·briefly, and also make it known:
swas got mit der welte ie begie·whatever God ever did with the world,
das hv̊b sich dort vnd endet hie·that began there and ends here.
Dar nach was er in deme lande·After that he was in the land
vierzig tage do fv̊r er dar· in sin vater sande·forty days; then he went there, whence his Father sent him.
sinen geist er v́ns bewar·His Spirit, may he keep us:
den sant er hin wider zehant·that he sent back at once.
heilig ist das selbe lant·Holy is that same land,
sin name der ist vor got erkant·its name is known before God.
Kristen ivden vnd die heiden·Christians, Jews and the heathens
iehent dc dis ir erbe si·say that this is their inheritance.
got mvͤsse es zerehte scheiden·May God judge it rightly
dur die sine namen dri·by his three names.
al dú welt stritet her· wir sin an der rehten ger·All the world fights here; we are in the right claim.
reht ist dc er vns gewer·It is right that he grant it to us.
Original: Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1220); transcribed from a medieval manuscript. Text from Wikisource; public domain.
The English is the Institute’s own translation, made from the original for this page.
Notes on the translation (13)
- The text is a diplomatic transcription of one manuscript (folio change [126v] in line 8.5 is left out of the translation); its wording differs in places from the usual critical editions, and the translation follows what this manuscript has.
- line 3.7: 'wie dir ze den ist din zorn' does not construe as written; it looks like a corrupt copy of a line cursing the heathens ('woe to you, heathens, that grieves you'). Rendered with [?]; the editor may prefer to leave the line marked as unclear.
- line 5.3: 'dest der vanter ie geselle' is corrupt ('vanter' for 'vater'); read as 'in this the Father was ever his companion', i.e. the Father did not leave the Son in the harrowing of hell. Uncertain.
- line 5.6: 'zein' is a rod or arrow-shaft; the image (the Trinity as one, straighter and smoother than a shaft) is the poem's own.
- line 1.1: 'mir werde' = 'worthy to myself', i.e. my life now has worth in my own eyes.
- line 3.4: 'eigen' = unfree people, bondsmen (as opposed to 'fri', free).
- line 7.2: 'weise' = orphan (MHG weise), not 'wise'.
- line 8.1: 'lantrehter tihten' read as 'the scheming/devising of our local judges'; the sense is that earthly courts' delays count for nothing at the Last Judgement. 'vristet' = postpones.
- line 8.4: 'schulde' covers both debt and guilt.
- line 9.6: this manuscript has 'dort ... hie' ('began there and ends here'); the sense is that God's dealings with the world began and end in this land.
- line 10.3: 'er vns bewar' read as a wish, 'may he keep us'; other copies have a relative clause ('who may keep us').
- line 11.4: 'by his three names' = by the Trinity.
- line 11.5: 'ger' = desire or claim (also a spear); read as 'we are in the right in our claim'.
Listen
On YouTube, from the channel Origo Ensemble. Pressing play loads YouTube’s player. Watch on YouTube
What it inspired
- Alte clamat Epicurus (Carmina Burana, CB 211) c. 1230same melody (the Palästinalied's first stanza is added to it as CB 211a)
- All die Weil Ich Mag (Ougenweide) 1974adapted as (recording)
- Congregatio (Corvus Corax) 1991adapted as (recording)
- Qntal II (Qntal) 1995adapted as (recording)
- Crusaders (Estampie) 1996adapted as (recording)
- Weckt die Toten! (In Extremo) 1998adapted as (recording)
- Undrentide (Mediaeval Baebes) 2000adapted as (recording)
- Palästinalied-Projekt 2002adapted as (compilation of 20 performances)
- String Quartet Set, first movement (Lou Harrison)same melody (takes much of its melody)
What it drew on
- Lanquan li jorn (Jaufre Rudel) 12th centurysame melody (suggested contrafactum)
People, places and events
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Palästinalied", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pal%C3%A4stinalied
- Karl Lachmann (ed.), Die Gedichte Walthers von der Vogelweide, 1843 (14th ed. by Christoph Cormeau, 1996)
- Franz Pfeiffer, Deutsche Classiker des Mittelalters, 1864
- Wilhelm Wilmanns, Walther von der Vogelweide, 1886
- Meinolf Schumacher, "Die Konstituierung des 'Heiligen Landes' durch die Literatur. Walthers 'Palästinalied' und die Funktion der europäischen Kreuzzugsdichtung", in Orientdiskurse in der deutschen Literatur, 2007
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Palästinalied (Palestine Song). In Songs in History. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/palastinalied
- MLA
- “Palästinalied (Palestine Song).” Songs in History, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/palastinalied. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Palästinalied (Palestine Song).” Songs in History. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/palastinalied.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Palästinalied (Palestine Song)’, Songs in History. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/palastinalied (Accessed: ).