Beschreibung:
<p>In 1813 Moritz Arndt declared the Rhine, which separates the country from France in the west, as the »Germans River, but not the Germans's Frontier«. In the time of the wars of independence this concise formula describes the political tensions of the two neighbour countries paradigmatically, although they respected each other increasingly as cultural references. Up until the 1840s, patriotic songs crossed the two sides of the river in rapid succession glorifying either the French or the German Nation. Nikolaus Becker's populistic song Der deutsche Rhein triggered a sustained debate about the actual border, claimed by both nations. However, various replications, translations and parodies on both sides (Schneckenburger, Prutz, Musset, Arndt, Heine, Lamartine etc.) however reveal the relativity of the controversy and point the way to a supranational solution, which was already set up for a united Europe. The following article deals with the variously shaped history of the highly controversial »Rheinlied« and compares it to chanson- and »Schlager«-texts of the late 20th century.</p>