Felix and Erne were probably married in a ceremony particularly popular during the First World War known as "Kriegstrauung" and kept the poem below "Kriegsgetraut" (roughly translated "Married in Wartime") by Eva Lichtwarth. The poem contains phrases and words that are no longer used in modern-day German, but I have roughly translated the first two verses.
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| Kriegsgetraut by Eva Lichtwarth |
Married in war! Solid ties based on trust,
Are bound across the country.
Bringing the festive news
Of life's sacred hour,
Singing, in these hard times of iron,
Of love's blessed ways.
Married in war! Despite death and night
Happiness blooms and love wakes.
Spreads consoling mercy
At the calm and warm hearth.
As if of steel, so firmly founded
Is the band that binds hearts.
Many couples were married in this simplified ceremony during the two world wars in Germany, a procedure called "Kriegstrauung". The complexity of the process was reduced such that a wedding could be carried out quickly and easily. During the Second World War, additional rations were provided for such weddings.
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| Felix and Erne in Munich |
In 1914, it was reported in Baden that the number of weddings escalated at an explosive rate. Barely had mobilization been announced than young couples stormed the civil registry offices and then the churches - alone in Pforzheim, around 35 km from Ettlingen, 111 marriages were recorded between August 1 and August 6, 1914.
After mobilization was announced, Felix signed up to join the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 16 on August 10, 1914. This regiment is well-known for another of its members, Adolf Hitler, who joined up just six days later than Felix on August 16, 1914. It is likely that they would have been acquainted with each other, although Felix held the higher rank of Leutant to Hitler's Gefreite.
Thanks for your very interesting post on Kriegstrauung, including the poem "Kriegsgetraut" by Eva Lichtwarth. It would be very interesting and educational if you could comment on the phrases and words in the poem that are not used in modern German. It would also be helpful to see the poem in German with modern typography, since it is hard for someone who is not a native German speaker to read the old-style Gothic handwriting,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I've transcribed the first 2 verses of the poem below, and I also changed one of the lines in translation. I've also written some comments below the poem about the language.
ReplyDelete"Kriegsgetraut! Ein trautes Wort,
Zieht es durch die Lande fort
Gibt die feierliche Kunde
Von des Lebens Weihestunde
Singt in dieser schweren Zeit von Eisen
Von der Liebe sel'ge Weisen
Kriegsgetraut! Trotz Tod und Nacht
Blüht das Glück und Liebe wacht.
Breitet tröstendes Erbarmen
Aus am Herd, dem stillen, warmen.
Wie aus Stahl, so fest gegründet
Ist das Band, das Herzen bindet."
Of course the whole poem is written in the romanticized style of poetry 100 years ago. In particular, the term "kriegsgetraut" is no longer used in modern day German, and perhaps few people would know what it meant. The word "traut" ("ein trautes Wort") as an adjective is no longer used - it also occurs in the Christmas carol "Stille Nacht" ("nur das traute, hochheilige Paar"); it used to mean "intimate" or "trusted" - in modern German you would probably rather say "vertraut". It is simultaneously a play on words, as "trauen" also means "to marry". "Weihestunde" is not a word you would normally hear nowadays, I have translated it as "sacred hour", but it could also mean "solemn hour". The word "Herd", which means "stove" in modern German, is used here to mean "hearth". "Die schwere Zeit von Eisen" literally means "this hard time of iron", but it is used here as a metaphor for being "armed" in wartime.
Kathy
The "time of iron" also refers to the fact that iron was a very important raw material and was used in wartime for bullets, machines and weapons of war. For this reason, many iron church bells were requisitioned by the state for the purpose of melting them down and reworking them into weapons. The poem also shows how women were seen socially at this time, being required to stay by the hearth, a symbol of nourishment and warmth, and to care for the family, thus supporting their soldier husbands in the field.
ReplyDelete