Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit..
No country more beautiful in this time
- No country more beautiful in this time,
as ours here, both far and near,
where we feel well under the lime trees
at eventide.
- Many hours we have spent here together,
sitting in a happy round,
singing together, the songs ringing
through the deep oak glades
- God grant that we may meet again
many hundred times here in this valley
may God grant us this, may God make it happen,
in his mercy.
- Now, brothers, good night,
the Lord high in his Heaven is watching over us
In his goodness, he intends to protect us.
conceptual painting
The series “No country more beautiful in this time” refers to the refugee crisis from Syria, which in 2015 experienced its first peak in Europe.
Symbolized by the protagonists Adam and Eve of today in search of peace and freedom. In doing so, the Austrian Wandervogel Volkslied allows an extended interpretation by equating hiking and meetings under Linden with the flow of refugees at the borders. The wishes and expectations that the refugees have of their destination country are similar to paradisiacal states that are reflected in the religious text of the song. Western and Eastern cultures find here, in the salutary idea of a paradise, a community.
Perhaps the mutual appreciation for the common country could be a starting point for successful integration.
No country more beautiful in this time (Wikipedia)
After the publication of “Kein schöner Land” in 1912 in the song book “Unsere Lieder des Österreichischen Wandervogels”, the song quickly became established in the Wandervogel movement. They sang it around the campfire, making it more popular in the youth and singing movement. The high popularity of the song was reflected already in the 1920s, in a number of versions to the traditional melody, so there is a socialist reinterpretation of 1929 and an approximately simultaneous version for Protestant girls and women circles.
