By Landesmuseum Württemberg
& University of Freiburg
The Myth of the “Ancient” Folk Song
"Folk song” – the term sounds age-old, yet it is in fact a relatively recent invention. For centuries, songs were continually rewritten, reshaped, forgotten, and later rediscovered.
It was not until the Romantic era (around 1800) that poets began to deliberately collect popular songs and assign them the name “folk song.”
A central role in this process was played by Achim von Arnim (1781-1831) and Clemens Brentano (1778-1842). In their celebrated collection Des Knaben Wunderh
The “Invention” of the Folk Song
The folk song was effectively “invented” by Johann Gottfried Herder. Central to this development was his two-volume publication Volkslieder (1778/79). “Invention” here does not mean fabrication, but rather the deliberate selection, translation, and reordering of songs — and with it, the decisive shaping of the very concept of the folk song.
Together with his wife Caroline, Herder collected and translated European songs and examples of what he understood as “popular poetry.”
Song postcard "Ein Männlein steht im Walde" ("A little man is standing within the wood"), early 20th c. (c. 1928) by SchenkelOriginal Source: ZPKM Archives, University of Freiburg
“In the Tone of the People”
Folk songs are often characterized by memorable, singable melodies — a quality long embraced by artists and composers. In the nineteenth century, the term Volkston (“in the tone of the people”) described the artistic adaptation of supposedly “popular” melody, rhythm, and form. Composers such as Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johannes Brahms incorporated such elements into their works.
A well-known example is the children’s song Ein Männlein steht im Walde, which Engelbert Humperdinck integrated into his opera Hänsel und Gretel with a libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette.
Song postcard "Heidenröslein" ("Wild rose"), c. 1920s, Lp3147 (c. 1920s) by AnonOriginal Source: ZPKM Archives, University of Freiburg
Love, Homeland, Nature – What Do Folk Songs Tell Us?
Folk songs explore fundamental themes of human life, often in idealized ways. Recurring motifs include love, homeland, and nature. Love songs evoke longing and courtship, while songs of homeland recall familiar places that create a sense of belonging and security. Images of nature — flowers, gardens, and the changing seasons — frequently serve as metaphors for human emotions.
A well-known example is the song Heidenröslein, composed in 1827 by Heinrich Werner after the 1789 poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The wild rose on the heath becomes a symbol of beauty and love. At the same time, the poem portrays the courtship of a young woman — and her resistance, poignantly expressed through the image of the rose that defends itself.
Rewriting and Protest
The song “In Mutters Stübele” was widely known throughout the Alemannic-speaking regions (especially Baden, Alsace, and German-speaking Switzerland) from the nineteenth century onward.
In the 1970s, it was adapted as a cross-border protest song of the emerging environmental movement in the so-called Dreyeckland region. Rewritten and newly contextualized, it was sung during the protests against the nuclear power plant in Wyhl — a key moment in the history of Germany’s enviro
Poverty, Migration, Resistance – Further Motifs in Folk Songs
Many folk songs also address difficult human experiences: emigration, protest, war and death, poverty, and social hardship.
The nineteenth-century song “In Mutters Stübele” (“In Mother’s Little Room”) gives voice to distress, hunger, cold, and deprivation, as the lyrical speaker asks for alms.
Such themes reflect people’s worries and hopes — concerns that remain strikingly relevant today.
Deutschland August 1914 (1914) by Friedrich August von KaulbachOriginal Source: Wikimedia Commons
The “People” in the Folk Song
“People” (Volk) is not a neutral descriptive term; it can also serve as an expression of nationalist and ethnically exclusive ideology. Such ideologies assume cultural and ethnic homogeneity within a nation-state and obscure social differences. The concept of Volk is essentialized — defined as a “natural unity” based on shared ancestry, language, and culture.
In its most extreme forms, especially in the twentieth century, völkisch ideologies repeatedly led to violent persec
Instrumentalizations from the Far Right
Music can be used as a political tool. Folk songs, too, were appropriated and misused during the era of Nazi Party rule. Today, right-wing rock musicians and singer-songwriters continue to instrumentalize folk songs and their symbolic aura.
For example, nineteenth-century student songs reappeared in National Socialist songbooks of the twentieth century — and are still performed in the twenty-first century by extremist groups. One such text is “Wenn alle untreu werden” (1814) by Max von Schenkendorf.
Choir singing a text by Joseph von Eichendorff "Wer hat dich du schöner Wald..." At “Liedertafeln,” members met regularly — sometimes weekly — to make music together and to dine and socialize. (1888) by Christian Wilhelm AllersLandesmuseum Württemberg
Singing as Cultural Practice
People have always sung. In nineteenth-century Europe, choral singing became a widespread trend. The Zeltersche Liedertafel, founded in Berlin in 1808, was the first formally organized male choir association and became a reference point for the entire male choral tradition in Germany.
Singing societies fostered community and patriotism and developed into socially and politically significant spaces.
From the 1860s onward, workers’ choirs emerged; around 1900, mixed and women’s choirs increasingly followed.
Men's choir Röbel, singing charols in Advent, northern Germany, 2024 (1st Dec 2017) by Frank LiebigOriginal Source: Wikimedia Commons
Living Tradition: Choirs as Cultural Heritage
Communal singing has a long history — in churches, associations, and at festivals. Choirs transmit cultural knowledge and shared values. They preserve and expand a diverse repertoire, ranging from traditional works such as Steigerlied — the miners’ anthem — to contemporary compositions.
Since 2013, “Choral music in German amateur choirs” has been inscribed on Germany’s national list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. It fulfills key criteria: it is a living tradition, fosters community, is passed down through generations, and strengthens social cohesion — forming a vibrant bridge between past and future.
Throughout Germany people gather to sing popular songs. South Baden, carnival 2025. (November 2023) by Gabriele HennickeLandesmuseum Württemberg
“Folk Song Singing” – Still Popular Today
Even today, informal “Liedertafeln” exist — though without formal membership obligations or fear of singing out of tune.
Enthusiasts gather at open singing sessions, often in inns, accompanied by guitar or accordion.
They sing nineteenth-century folk songs, well-known twentieth-century hits, and witty contemporary rewritings (contrafacta) — continuing a long-standing tradition of reshaping popular songs.
Song postcard "O du fröhliche" ("Oh, how joyful"), c. 1910 (c. 1910) by Anon.Original Source: ZPKM Archives, University of Freiburg
Christmas Carols
Some folk songs are sung only at particular times of year — for example, Christmas carols. Many of these songs have Christian origins. A well-known example is O du fröhliche, which continues to be performed in communal singing today.
Singing in Everyday Life
Singing takes place in many everyday settings. People sing together at celebrations, festivals, and social gatherings — and in football stadiums. There, fans chant to support their teams and sing their national anthems at international competitions.
In these moments, temporary communities emerge, creating a powerful sense of belonging.
Excerpt from the vocal score for second tenor of the Sulzburg choir (Baden, southwestern Germany) (1862) by F. Leisinger, MGV SulzburgOriginal Source: ZPKM Archives , University of Freiburg
Sung – Written – Broadcast
Folk songs were transmitted not only orally but increasingly in written form. From the nineteenth century onward, song collections were published for choirs, student fraternities, and youth movements, strengthening communal bonds through shared singing.
Songbooks for the Youth
Songbooks also played a role in youth organizations in the Third Reich and in the GDR.
After 1945, folk songs appeared in school textbooks and in well-known collections such as Die Mundorgel. Through choirs, recordings, and television, the folk song remained widely present into the 2000s.
Record covers, 1980s/90s, collage (1981-1992) by Emma Dobner-DobenauOriginal Source: ZPKM Archives , University of Freiburg
The Primetime of Folk Music
In the 1970s and 1980s, volkstümlicher Schlager (folk-style popular music) gained wide popularity. Television programs such as Musikantenstadl, Hallo Heino, Heimatmelodie, and Die goldene Hitparade der Volksmusik sought to convey cheerfulness, relaxation, and a sense of identity.
The 1990s marked the primetime of such evening broadcasts; journalists even spoke of a “flood” of folk music programming. Today, folk music continues as a popular niche genre.
Old Songs — Found and Invented, Collected and Sung
Folk songs continue to be sung today. At the same time, they represent an important source for historical research. Yet the term “folk song” itself is increasingly viewed as problematic due to its ideological implications and its reference to a supposedly homogeneous “people.”
In academic contexts, scholars therefore tend to speak instead of “songs from oral tradition” or “popular songs.” Is it time to reconsider the term “folk song” in everyday language as well?
Card Catalog of the Württemberg folk song archive (2018) by Landesstelle für AlltagskulturOriginal Source: Landesmuseum Württemberg, Landesstelle für Alltagskultur, Archiv
Researching Folk Songs: Transmission and Identity
The rapid industrialization of the nineteenth century brought profound social change. As everyday life was transformed, scholars sought to prevent the perceived loss of older song traditions. Folk songs were written down, compiled into collections, and published as songbooks. Through documentation, what was understood as an “original” cultural heritage was to be preserved — and to contribute to processes of national identity formation.
John Meier (1864–1953)
The German philologist John Meier was born in 1864 into an upper-middle-class family. He studied German language and literature, with a particular interest in poetry and language, and dedicated himself to researching folk songs. Before moving to Freiburg in 1912, he taught at the University of Basel and co-founded the Swiss Folk Song Archive in 1906. After his death, the state of Baden-Württemberg inherited the archive.
A Central Folk Song Enterprise
For John Meier, gathering folk songs from archives across the entire German-speaking world was “a kind of intellectual homeland preservation.”
With state support, the German Folk Song Archive became a central institution. It also co-published regional song booklets that met with great interest and circulated in tens of thousands of copies throughout the twentieth century.
The Founding of the German Folk Song Archive
In 1914, John Meier founded the Deutsches Volksliedarchiv (German Folk Song Archive). For him and for the discipline of folklore studies at the time, preserving, cultivating, and disseminating the German-language folk song heritage was regarded as a national duty.
His private residence in Freiburg became a research center where knowledge about folk songs was collected over many decades. In 2014, the archive was incorporated into the Center for Popular Culture and Music (ZPKM).
Landesstelle für Alltagskultur, Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart &
Centre for popular culture and music (ZPKM), University Freiburg
Written Contetent: Alban Belart, Laeticia Bouger, Isabel Bühler, Tabea Burst, Linus Dessecker, Emma Dobner-Dobenau, Elif Erkilinc, Leahmay Irlas, Maximilian Kirner, Tara Knüttel, Thomas Kölble, Til Michels, Carlotta Riedesel, Dilara Sayilica, Hanna Schicht, AI-assisted translation
Concept and Project Coordination: Johannes Müske, Sabine Zinn-Thomas
Editing and Production: Noreen Klingspor
Translation
