A series of great  OPERA Records from early G&Ts to World War II recordings on 78 rpm Victrola Records

Emil Muench – on early Victor Monarch record, announced, Take 1 1902 w piano 

Lorelei
Heinrich Heine (author) 
Friedrich Silcher (composer) 

Emil Muench (vocalist : tenor vocal) 
Description: Tenor vocal solo

Language: German

8/4/1902 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Victor 946 10-in. 
Please see top of the page for condition

The Watch on the Rhine was, after and in two World Wars until 1945, one of the most popular songs in Germany, almost rivaling the Deutschlandlied as the de-facto national anthem.

Die Wacht am Rhein (English: The Watch/Guard on the Rhine) is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in historical conflicts with France, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War.

 History
In the Rhine Crisis of 1840, Adolphe Thiers, after being cornered due to his support for Muhammad Ali of Egypt, renewed French claims for the Rhine River as France's "natural eastern border". Germans feared that France was planning to annex the left bank of the Rhine, as it had done during the Napoleonic Wars a few decades earlier, or with Alsace in the 17th century. In the two centuries from the Thirty Years' War to the final defeat of Napoleon, the German-speaking inhabitants of these lands suffered from repeated major and minor French invasions (see French-German enmity).

In the third Reich it was again popular, as a nationalistic, and not Nazi song (likte the Horst Wessel Lied). It is interesting to note that the Nazi Soldiers in Casablanca intone Die Wacht am Rhein against the French Marseillaise in Sam's Cafe.

The following is the complete text of the original five verses of the Die Wacht am Rhein, plus additions:

German lyrics Approximate translation 1st stanza

Es braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall,
wie Schwertgeklirr und Wogenprall:
Zum Rhein, zum Rhein, zum deutschen Rhein,
wer will des Stromes Hnter sein?

A call roars like thunderbolt,
like clashing swords and splashing waves:
To the Rhine, the Rhine, to the German Rhine,
who wants to be the stream's guardian?

Dear fatherland, put your mind at rest,
dear fatherland, put your mind at rest,
solid stands, and staunch, the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine!
Solid stands, and staunch, the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine!

Durch Hunderttausend zuckt es schnell,
und aller Augen blitzen hell;
der Deutsche bieder, fromm und stark,
beschntzt die heil'ge Landesmark.

Through hundreds of thousands it quickly twitches,
and everybody's eyes brightly flash;
the German, respectable, pious, and strong,
protects the sacred county border.

Er blickt hinauf in Himmelsau'n,
wo HeldenvSter niederschau'n,
und schw÷rt mit stolzer Kampfeslust:
Du Rhein bleibst deutsch wie meine Brust!

He looks up to the meadows of heaven,
where ancient heroes glance down,
and swears with proud pugnacity:
You Rhine will remain German like my chest!

Solang ein Tropfen Blut noch glnht,
noch eine Faust den Degen zieht,
und noch ein Arm die Bnchse spannt,
betritt kein Feind hier deinen Strand!

As long as a drop of blood still glows,
a fist still draws the dagger,
and one arm still holds the rifle,
no enemy will here enter your shore!

Und ob mein Herz im Tode bricht,
wirst du doch drum ein Welscher nicht.
Reich, wie an Wasser deine Flut,
ist Deutschland ja an Heldenblut!

And even if my heart breaks in death,
You'll never ever become a French.
As rich in water is your flood,
is Germany in heroes' blood.

Der Schwur erschallt, die Woge rinnt
die Fahnen flattern hoch im Wind:
Am Rhein, am Rhein, am deutschen Rhein
wir alle wollen Hnter sein.

The oath rings out, the billow runs
the flags wave high in the wind:
On the Rhine, on the German Rhine
we all want to be the guardian.

So fnhre uns, du bist bewShrt;
In Gottvertrau'n greif' zu dem Schwert!
Hoch Wilhelm! Nieder mit der Brut!
Und tilg' die Schmach mit Feindesblut!

So lead us, you are approved;
With trust in God, grab the sword!
Hail Wilhelm! Down with all that brood!
Erase the shame with foes' blood!