View source for Nikolaus Becker

{{Short description|German lawyer and writer}}
[[File:Nikolaus Becker Gedenktafel Geilenkirchen.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Plaque for Nikolaus Becker and his Rheinlied - ''"Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein ..."'' (They shall not have him, the free, German Rhine)]]

'''Nikolaus Becker''' (8 October 1809, [[Bonn]], [[Rhin-et-Moselle]] – 28 August 1845 in the Hünshoven district of [[Geilenkirchen]]) was a German lawyer and writer. His one poem of note was the 1840 "Rheinlied" (Rhine song) which was set to music over 70 times, the most famous setting being  ''[[Die Wacht am Rhein]]''.

==The Rhine Song==
While the [[French–German enmity]] already was about 200 years old, it was inspired by the [[Rhine crisis]] of 1840, caused by the French prime minister [[Adolphe Thiers]], who again voiced demands that France should own the left bank of the [[Rhine]] (described as France's "natural boundary"), as France had done decades earlier during Napoleons reign. In response, Becker wrote a poem called ''Rheinlied'', which contained the verse: ''"Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein ..."'' (''They shall not have him, the free, German Rhine'').
{{Verse translation|lang=de|
1. Sie sollen ihn nicht haben,
Den freien deutschen Rhein,
Ob sie wie gier'ge Raben
Sich heiser danach schrein,

2. Solang' er, ruhig wallend,
Sein grünes Kleid noch trägt,
Solang', ein Ruder schallend,
In seine Wogen schlägt.

3. Sie sollen ihn nicht haben,
Den freien deutschen Rhein,
Solang' sich Herzen laben
An seinem Feuerwein;

4. Solang' in seinem Strome
Noch fest die Felsen stehn,
So lang' sich hohe Dome
In seinem Spiegel sehn.

5. Sie sollen ihn nicht haben,
Den freien deutschen Rhein,
So lang' dort kühne Knaben
Um schlanke Dirnen frein;

6. Solang' die Flosse hebet
Ein Fisch in seinem Grund,
Solang' ein Lied noch lebet
In seiner Sänger Mund!

7. Sie sollen ihn nicht haben,
Den freien deutschen Rhein,
Bis seine Flut begraben
Des letzten Manns Gebein.
|
They shall not have him,
The free German Rhine,
Even if they cry like avaricious ravens
Until their voices are hoarse,

As long as he, flowing calmly,
Is of green colour,
As long as rudders sound
On his waves.

They shall not have him,
The free German Rhine,
As long as hearts refresh themselves
With his fiery wine;

As long as rocks
Stand firm in his current,
As long as big cathedrals
Are mirrored in his waves.

They shall not have him,
The free German Rhine,
As long as bold boys
Court beautiful girls;

As long as fish
Swim in his floods,
As long as poets
Write songs about him!

They shall not have him,
The free German Rhine,
Until his flood has covered
The last man's bones.}}

This patriotic poem brought him much praise throughout Germany. The Prussian King [[Friedrich Wilhelm IV]] sent him 1000 [[Thaler]], and King [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]] honoured him with a goblet. The "Rheinlied" was set to music over 70 times, amongst others by [[Robert Schumann]], and other Rheinlied songs followed, the most famous being ''[[Die Wacht am Rhein]]''. The wording was mostly defensive.

The French answered, with [[Alfred de Musset]]: ''"Nous l'avons eu, votre Rhin allemand"'' (''We've had him, your German Rhine'') rubbing salt into the wounds Napoleon and others had caused, while [[Lamartine]]'s "Peace [[Marseillaise]]" (1841) was peaceful.

He published a volume of more poems in 1841, but none achieved much popularity.

==External links==
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Becker, Nikolaus|year=1905 |short=x}}
*{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Becker, Nikolaus |short=x}}
*{{Cite Nuttall|title=Becker, Nicolaus |short=x}}
*http://www.jhelbach.de/dichtung/rheinli.htm  Der Rhein in der Lyrik {{in lang|de}}

{{Authority control}}

{{German patriotic songs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Nikolaus}}
[[Category:1809 births]]
[[Category:1845 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Bonn]]
[[Category:Poets from the Kingdom of Prussia]]
[[Category:Lawyers from the Kingdom of Prussia]]

[[Category:German male poets]]
[[Category:19th-century German poets]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]


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