Old German Text

The earliest Old High German text is generally taken to be the Abrogans, a Latin–Old High German glossary variously dated between 750 and 780, probably from Reichenau. Solidsquad activator download. The 8th century Merseburg Incantations are the only remnant of pre-Christian German literature.

The popular Christmas carol 'O Tannenbaum' was written in Germany in the mid-1500s. The original folk song has been rewritten many times over the centuries. The song's long history is not very detailed, but it is interesting. It's also fascinating to see how one modern German version literally translates into English. It's not quite what you're probably familiar with. Rebelution count me in zip.

The History of 'O Tannenbaum'

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  2. The vocabulary contains 1258 meaning-word pairs ('entries') corresponding to core LWT meanings from the recipient language Old High German. The corresponding text chapter was published in the book Loanwords in the World's Languages. The language page Old High German contains a list of all loanwords arranged by donor languoid.
Old

A Tannenbaum is a fir tree (die Tanne) or Christmas tree (der Weihnachtsbaum). Although most Christmas trees today are spruce (Fichten) rather than Tannen, the qualities of the evergreen have inspired musicians to write several Tannenbaum songs in German over the years.

The first known Tannenbaum song lyrics date to 1550. A similar 1615 song by Melchior Franck (1579 to 1639) goes:

Old German Text Font

Ach Tannebaum
Ach Tannebaum
du bist
einedler Zweig!
Du grünest uns den Winter,
die
lieben Sommerzeit.

Roughly translated, it means, 'Oh pine tree, oh pine tree, you're a noble twig! You greet us in the winter, the dear summer time.'

In the 1800s, the German preacher and collector of folk music, Joachim Zarnack (1777 to 1827) wrote his own song inspired by the folk song. His version used the true leaves of the tree as a contrast to his sad tune about an unfaithful (or untrue) lover.

The best-known version of a Tannenbaum song was penned in 1824 by Ernst Gebhard Salomon Anschütz (1780 to 1861). He was a well-known organist, teacher, poet, and composer from Leipzig, Germany.

His song doesn't specifically refer to a Christmas tree that is decorated for the holiday with ornaments and a star. Instead, it sings of the green fir tree, as more of a symbol of the season. Anschütz left the reference to a true tree in his song, and that adjective dates back to the faithless lover Zarnack sung about.

Today, the old song is a popular Christmas carol that is sung far beyond Germany. It's common to hear it sung in the United States, even among people who don't speak German.

The Lyrics and Translation

The English version here is a literal translation—not the traditional English lyrics for the song—for learning purposes. There are at least a dozen other versions of this carol. For example, a number of modern versions of this song changed 'treu' (true) to 'gruen'(green).

Translate Old German Text

The traditional melody of “O Tannenbaum” has also found use in non-Christmas songs. Four U.S. states (Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey) have borrowed the melody for their state song.

Old English German Text

In my daily work, I have already dealt with a wide variety of historical documents. There are letters, diaries, birth certificates, handicraft rolls, land register extracts, field postcards and much more. Before the 20th century, most documents were written by hand. There were also printed books, but they were also produced in old German script, for example in Fraktur or Antiqua. As this was a very elaborate process, it was only possible for book printers. PC printers did not yet exist and the typewriter did not appear until the end of the 19th century. So it is understandable that almost all documents were written in German handwriting.

Printable Old German Lettering

With the help of some examples, I would like to show you the variety and beauty of these contemporary witnesses and the results of my transcription work of old German handwriting.