LL-L "History" 2005.10.24 (02) [E/LS]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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   L O W L A N D S - L * 24 October 2005 * Volume 02
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From: Helge Tietz <helgetietz at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Anthems" 2005.10.21 (03) [E/F/LS]


Leve Lowlanders,

Of course, I have heard the official anthem of Slesvig-Holsten before but we 
never endorsed the song since it was a political song originating in the 
battle for Slesvig-Holsten between Prussia and Denmark. Since my family 
supported Denmark the song symbolizes much more our defeat than anything 
else and, beside the fact that it is in the "foreign" High German language 
it also emphasizes the German origins of the Slesvig-Holsteners, therefore I 
don't think it is a very good anthym since it excludes large parts of the 
inhabitants. A more neutral song would be a lot more adequate but since this 
anthym is not played and heard very often (I think the majority of the 
Slesvig-Holstener have only a very brief knowledge of this anthym) it is not 
that relevant. Nevertheless, a change, at least in the lyrics, would 
certainly be appreciated by the states' "minorities". I personally identify 
much more with the so called "Friesenlied" as some kind of an anthym, my ! 
mother often sung me song as a lullubye, therefore it gives me more of an 
attachment. But since it describes only the coastal region around the North 
Sea I am not certain whether it could serve as a Low Saxon anthym, at least 
the lyrics are in Low Saxon and it is neutral simply describing the North 
Sea coast, it is the best song so far I could come up with. For those who 
don't know the song, here is a copy:

Wo de Nordseewellen trecken an de Strand,
Wor de geelen Blöme bleuhn int gröne Land,
|: Wor de Möwen schrieen gell int Stormgebrus,
   Dor is mine Heimat, dor bün ick to Hus. :|
2 Well'n un Wogenruschen weern min Weegenleed,
Un de hohen Dieken seh'n min Kinnertied,
|: Markten ok min Sehnen un min heet Begehr:
   Dör de Welt to flegen, ower Land un Meer. :|

3. Wohl hett mi dat Lewen all min Lengen still,
Hett mi all dat geven, wat min Hart erfüllt;
|: All dat is verswunnen, wat mi drück un dreev,
   Hev dat Glück woll funnen, doch dat Heimweh bleev. :|

4. Heimweh nach min schöne, gröne Marschenland,
Wor de Nordseewellen trecken an de Strand,
|: Wor de Möwen schrieen gell int Stormgebrus,
   Dor is mine Heimat, dor bün ick to Hus. :|

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Anthems

Moin, Helge!

Great to hear from you.  It's good for people to find out and for others to 
be reminded about the Sleswig/Slesvig/Schleswig referendum that determined 
today's Danish-German border, and that it was not only ethnic Danes that 
voted for all of it to go to Denmark instead of splitting it up into a 
northern (Danish) and a southern (German) part the way it is these days (as 
seen from the Danish perspective).

Some of our Lowlanders may not be aware of the fact that the border moved 
several times in the course of history, that it was at one point in time as 
far south as to split what is nowadays the city state of Hamburg into Danish 
and German parts (Altona having been Danish then).

While Schleswig-Holstein or parts thereof were Danish, the Low Saxon 
language was doing all right there, though it was never in top shape 
anywhere after the fall of the Hanseatic League.  I don't know how this 
would have played out had those parts remained Danish.  After all, don't be 
fooled by the apparent innocence of that charming little country, loving it 
to death though we may be!  ;-)  It's a voracious minority language eater! 
Both Frisian and Low Saxon have disappeared on Danish soil, while Jutish (in 
Jutland) and Skanian (on Bornholm) have been barely surviving, probably only 
because people have been considering them Danish dialects.  Maybe it has 
something to do with the country's small size and its citizens' relative 
contentment to be Danish.  ("J' ska' dræbe I sødt med min ynde ... dræbe I 
sødt med ... lalala ..." -- "Killing you softly with my charm, killing you 
softly ... lalala ...")

In my opinion, Denmark made a strategic error in continuing the disputed 
area's ("High") German domination.  Had Denmark instated or at least 
proposed to instate Low Saxon as an official language besides Danish, and 
North Frisian as well in the Northern Friesland region, I bet you far more 
people would have voted in favor of making all of Slesvig Danish.  That was 
a lost opportunity for the Danish side, I feel.  Would you agree, Helge?

As for the _Friesenlied_, below is a sound snippet for those of you who 
don't know the tune.

http://www.de-windjammers.de/Music/Wenn%20die%20Windjammer%20segeln/01%20-%20Track%20%201.mp3

Kumpelmenten,
Reinhard/Ron

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