Lieder machen Leute: Teaching Postwar

German Identity through Song

Christopher Wickham
University of Texas at San Antonio

The journey of West German self-awareness

from the 1950s to unification is traceable nowhere
more clearly than in the words and performance of
Liedermacher. The implied questionsWho am I?
Who are we? What are my/our ambitions? And
what are my/our responsibilities?recur with urgent insistence in the texts of singer-songwriters.
The following pages highlight four central themes
around which the quest for a new identity and the
overhaul of the sense of belonging develop during
the postwar decades. The themes in question are
the Wirtschaftswunder, protest against nuclear energy, ecological crisis, and the question of patriotism. The article locates points of interaction between singer-songwriters and these thematic areas
through specific songs. Five songs are presented
here as a framework for acquainting students with
the four themes, which in turn incorporate key historic events and social developments of the postwar years.1 The songs serve as musical documents
that may be used to bring this era in German culture closer to our students.
The historical background offered here contains a level of detail going well beyond the immediate textual reference of the songs. This is deliberate because in this way instructor and student gain
a set of navigational fixed points that are intended
to serve as points of departure for research projects
and internet searches that add dimensions to the
contextual picture and richness to the appreciation
of the songs as cultural artifacts.2 The purpose is
not to connect particular songs with particular historic events in a simple cause-and-effect linkage,
but rather to sketch the broader context in which

1 The themes themselves have been covered in a

large number of songs by a range of different
songwriters. The collections published by Bonson,

24

the songs had their genesis and to allow each song

to become a window onto West German cultural
history of this period.
Students who have completed intermediatelevel language instruction (four semesters or the
equivalent) at an American college or university
are in a position to work with texts at the level of
linguistic sophistication demanded by Liedermacher songs; they also have sufficient acquaintance with German culture to be able to embark on
the type of project envisioned here. The material
presented is intended as a starting point for individual or group research projects and presupposes
that different learning needs and pedagogical goals
will utilize it in different ways. Emphasis may be
placed as needed on the literary qualities of the
text, on the combined aesthetic impact of text, music, and performance, on the intersection of text
and cultural and/or historical context, or on the cultural or historical context itself (for which the song
serves as a point of entry). While songs may be
used for modified cloze exercises to expand and reinforce language skills and opportunities for vocabulary building are many, the primary learning benefits lie in the areas of culture, history, social development, and aesthetics.

Liedermacher?
The word Liedermacher is attributed to Wolf
Biermann and is intended, by analogy with
Brechts term Stckeschreiber, to signify the
workmanlike role and proletarian allegiances of

Heimann and Klusen, and Stern (Schlaraffenland)

group songs according to these and other topics.
2 This article considers only West German
Liedermacher and their context.

WICKHAM: IDENTITY THROUGH SONG

the songwriter, at the same time deflating any elitist

or intellectual mystery that might be associated
with the terms Dichter or Lyriker (Rothschild
7). The Liedermacher is typically thought of as a
bard-like performer, accompanying himself (women Liedermacher are few), usually on acoustic
guitar, as he sings his own songs before a live audience. The resemblance to the American singer of
the Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, or Bob Dylan
type is self-evident, and U.S. and British folk traditions indeed played a key role in the development
of the German Liedermacher in the postwar era.
Similarly, the French chanson and the political
songs of Spain and Latin America fed the developing work of the Germans (Rundell 35). But there
were indigenous forebears too. Liedermacher
draw on the Bnkelsang and Moritat ballad
(Petzold; Riha; Zimmermann 38ff), on the cabaret
tradition of socially critical song as it flourished in
the early decades of the 20th century, and on the
Wandervogel and other youth organizations that
promoted the outdoor life and campfire entertainment. Much of the latter tradition had become
tainted during the Nazi years when blood-and-soil
ideology co-opted the German folk song for its own
purposes, and thus the home-grown traditional
Volkslied was not surprisingly treated with caution
and suspicion during the 1950s. A further productive line from the heritage of German song was the
political and democratic repertoire from the time of
the 1848 revolution and other social movements
which had been resuscitated by East German researcher Wolfgang Steinitz (1954, 1962) and
singer Peter Rohland. In addition, a crucial developmental proving ground for Liedermacher was
the series of festivals held at Burg Waldeck in the
Hunsrck from 1964 to 1968; it was here that almost all of the first generation of postwar Liedermacher cut their teeth (Henke 26f; Lassahn 254ff;
Krher Rotgraue Raben; Schmidt 45f; Sineveer
267f; Wickham 158ff).3

Economic Expansion,
Psychological Recession
The years of the Adenauer and Erhard chan-

3 As this article was being prepared for press David

Robbs Protest Song in East and West Germany
since the 1960s appeared. This essay volume provides valuable context, detail and analysis of,
among other topics, Steinitzs work, Waldeck, caba-

25

cellorships (194966), commonly referred to as the

period of the Wirtschaftswunder, are a time of receding and turning inward for the German populace. Topics related to the pre-war and war years
are not discussed openly; children are not educated about the crimes committed in the name of
their nation and homeland; the focus on material
reconstruction relegates to a distant, private, internal space any concern with a psychological processing of the past. Dieter Sverkrps Kirschen
auf Sahne (1967, A1)4 gives voice to hidden tension between the growing affluence and the thinly
veiled but all-too-present memories of brutality
and atrocity. The extravagant luxury associated
with eating cherries and whipped cream in public in
a caf, triggers the recurrent nightmare conjured up
by the red cherry juice on the snow-white cream:
Kirschen auf Sahne, Blutspur im Schnee. The
third-person narrative identifies clearly with the
point of view of the frail old man who observes the
young couple with their dessert behaving as if they
were in Paris. The artificial, interior light is headache inducing; the man bears a scar on his eye; the
young woman is pretty but fat; the old man gives
them a kind look. The clichs of contemporary ambience are indicated in the timeless oil painting of a
poacher in its baroque frame and the reference to
what would be on TV at this hour (a detective program), while the old man, whose memory has been
jogged by what he is seeing, reflects on his time in
the resistance and in Auschwitz, and whether it was
all worth it. His thoughts turn to the government
compensation he receives, the people he knew in
the camp, the tens of thousands who died, the
moldy bread; when he arrives at the conclusion
that it was perhaps worth it, the pain returns. His
lasting feelings are of embarrassment and shame
because the memories will not yield. All the while,
terror lurks in the rococo vase by the door, and the
light is artificial.
By means of the simple but visually powerful
image of Kirschen auf Sahne, Blutspur im
Schnee Sverkrp makes a tight connection between affluence and atrocity, present and past, economic miracle and the price paid. The image is perhaps not original, but the Liedermacher seems to
acknowledge this in his reference to sanftes

ret song and the literary chanson, the mechanics of

the Liedermacher scene, and the songs of Degenhardt, Wecker, and Biermann.
4 Song lyrics that appear in the Appendix to this
article are indicated by the notation A1, A2, etc.

26

Klischee. From a pedagogical point of view, the

song has the advantage of containing relatively
simple, core vocabulary, uncomplicated structures,
idiomaticalmost conversationallanguage, but
with poetic transitions and evocative juxtapositions that elevate the text to an aesthetic experience. Neologisms, such as Kopfschmerzenlicht
and Kriminalfernsehzeit are also instructive in
the way they illustrate the productivity and expressive power of German word formation. The song
offers an entry point into the topic of Vergangenheitsbewltigung, in the compact way that the
simultaneity of past and present are affixed to the
central image. When students are asked to consider and write about the potential for symbolism in
the ingredients that make up their own favorite ice
cream sundae they come a step closer to understanding what Sverkrp has accomplished in this
song. They should be challenged to identify the
other ways that the song ties abstract ideas to concrete objects and artifacts. Students should enumerate the references to eyes and seeing in this
song and articulate why this set of images is important. The old man was interned at Auschwitz; is he
Jewish? Can we tell? If so, how? What indications
are there in the song about the future? What adjectives do students already know that describe the
outlook for this projected future? What others do
they need to learn?
The mood of this song is that of the first decade
or two following the cessation of hostilities on May
8, 1945. During this time, under Adenauers chancellorship (19491963) the Federal Republic of
Germany (officially founded with the ratification of
the Grundgesetz in May 1949) had renounced
rearmament in 1950 but nevertheless moved
steadily toward the establishment of the Bundeswehr (1956). Intermediate steps had included the
founding of the Bundesgrenzschutz as early as
1951 and the entry of the Bundesrepublik into
NATO in May 1955. The Hallsteindoktrin of 1955
drove the wedge between East and West deeper
by breaking off relations between the
Bundesrepublik and nations that recognized the
sovereignty of the GDR. The initial idealistic determination following World War II to deny Germany future military power thus gave way to the
realities of Cold War geopolitics, which demanded the opposite. However, this did not take
place without considerable public resistance that
saw opposition rallying under the slogans Ohne
mich! and Nie wieder Krieg! The undercurrents
of anti-militarism and pacifism persist through the
years of the Bonn Republic and emerge at intervals

UP 41.1 (Spring 2008)

in songs of subsequent years. In 1956 the Deutsche

Atomkomission came into being and began a debate that continues to this day over atomic energy,
radioactive waste, and nuclear weapons; this
struggle has likewise provided many musical and
lyrical contributions that both comment on, and
contribute to, identity formation. The later Wirtschaftswunder years, and this is suggested
obliquely in Kirschen auf Sahne, are also the
years of the Fresswelle, a period of compensatory
consumption following the privation of the later
war years and the Trmmerjahre that followed the
capitulation. Adenauer campaigned for reelection under the slogan Keine Experimente in
1957. The stability of a steadily growing consumer
economy, shored up by family values, oldfashioned retrospective Heimatgesinnung (reflected in the popularity of the Heimatfilm), and
suspicion of socialism and communism the
KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands) had
been outlawed in 1957contributed to a defensive social posture protecting a fragile new status
quo.
Franz Josef Degenhardts song Deutscher
Sonntag (1966, A2) captures the claustrophobic
atmosphere generated by this mentality and challenges acceptance of it (Thomas and Bullivant
168ff; cf. Maske 23ff; Robb 7380). As the era of
Adenauer and Erhard comes to an end (Erhard is
forced to resign as chancellor in October 1966) to
be succeeded by the Grand Coalition of CDU/CSU
and SPD under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger,
Degenhardt provides a snapshot of the national
psyche through the viewfinder of one who fears it.
The voice of the song is provided by a surrogate for
the songwriter (they share a red beard), who sits at
the window with his newspaper (itself a window
onto a wider world) watching the rituals of a German Sunday play themselves out below. Boredom
is the dominant mood, embodied in the poisonous
spider that slowly spins its web on the wall. A family
makes its way to church with matching shoes, hats,
and accessories; husbands are held tightly by the
arm to ensure that they do not stray away for a
drink. An entire twelve-line stanza is dedicated to
the food of the day, to be followed by clouds of cigar
smoke, light classical music from the radio or record player, and a sonic boom that the songwriter
suggests is perhaps a municipal belch. Warlike language describes the activity on the soccer field,
where violence reigns and the language and behavior not tolerated in church find their outlet;
meanwhile old men think of great military victories
of the past. Going for a Sunday walk and greeting

WICKHAM: IDENTITY THROUGH SONG

the neighbors (in Germany, of course, all stores are

closed on Sundays) occupies an obligatory hour,
during which children are kept tightly under control. Only when the citizens of the small town have
returned to their couches for the evening, does the
Ich of the song dare to emerge to make sure the
stars are all in place in the sky. His abhorrence of
the provincial confinement of the bourgeois lifestyle is articulated unambiguously in lines like:
(Ich) sehe und rieche nebenbei / Das ganze Sonntagseinerlei, Das ist dann genau die Zeit, / Da
friere ich vor Gemtlichkeit, Die Luft riecht s
und suerlich / Ich glaube ich erbreche mich.
Degenhardt parodies at the same time the
smugness of a Bildungsbrgertum that takes pride
in a prepackaged cultural heritage of quotations
and cultural references. Walther von der Vogelweide appears in the decke Bein mit Beine reference; old folksongs are alluded to in das Lied vom
Wiesengrund / Und dass am Bach ein Birklein
stund; Strauss waltzes lie beneath the Donauwellen; the images of the Horst-Wessel-Lied
emerge in the military language of the soccer game;
and Degenhardt takes his closing line unashamedly from Matthias Claudiuss Abendlied: Und
unsern kranken Nachbarn auch.
In a vastly more literate song than Kirschen auf
Sahne, Degenhardt evokes a similar atmosphere
of the coexistence of terror and Gemtlichkeit.
What to the bourgeois families is the security of a
comfortable Sunday routine is to the outsider a ritual that masks unresolved issues from the past and
indicates a cold threat rather than a warm Heimat,
a hollow identity rather than solid character. The
language, like the content, presents greater challenges for American students, because of imagery,
poetic non-standard structures, obscure references, and associative allusions. On the other
hand, Degenhardts delivery has a phonetic clarity
that is well suited to inexperienced listeners.
As a way to penetrate the linguistic density of
this songs text, students can be asked to locate the
numerous wenn dann structures. Without
necessarily understanding the individual words
learners can in this way gain a sense of how the
song works, rhetorically speaking. The next step is
to locate the verbs that are operative in the subordinate (wenn-) clauses and main (dann-) clauses, a
simple task because of word order rules. Finding
the grammatical subject of those verbs may present
a challenge, but once this is done students feel confident in having recognized familiar structures and
are ready to tackle the lexical difficulties. By identifying for the students key words that connect this

27

song to its context(s), the instructor can structure

the interpretation of the song text: Sonntagseinerlei, Kirchgang, heimlich heimwrts (Heimat),
Bratendfte, Gemtlichkeit, Hausvorgrtenmauern, Zigarrenwolken (Erhard association), Musiktruhe, Flugzeug/Schall(mauer), Schlachtfeldsttten, Sedan, Spaziergangstunde, Couchecke, Mattscheibenspchen, among others. In this way a
linguistically challenging task can be made accessible by degrees.

Nuclear Reactions
Both nuclear armament and the generation of
nuclear power provided rallying points for citizen
protest and song in the BRD. I shall focus here on
nuclear power. Whether the issue centered on construction of power plants (e.g., Gundremmingen,
Brokdorf, Wyhl) or on the location of atomic reprocessing or storage plants (Gorleben, Wackersdorf),
resistance on the popular level was vocal and often
physical. Song writers, like Oswald Andrae (with
Helmut Debus), Walter Mossmann, and Sepp
Raith, lent words and music to the anti-nuclear
movement (cf. Robb 14147, chapter by Eckard
Holler). West Germanys first experimental reactor
had been constructed in Garching, near Munich, in
1957, and during the 1960s nuclear power provided increasing quantities of electricity for the national grid. When the oil crisis of 1973 hit, the pressure for nuclear options grew stronger and a plan
was forged to add 40 new reactors by 1985. In
1975 in Wyhl, Baden, the first mass demonstration
against construction of a nuclear power plant took
place. The Wyhl protests were remarkable because
they brought together concerned citizens from all
three nations on the Upper Rhine: Germany,
France (Alsace), and Switzerland. Using the
Alemannic dialect shared by all nations of the region, Walter Mossmann wrote operative songs like
Bruckelied (cf. Dimension 19.1, p. 95) and In
Mueders Stbele (Robb 143) designed to bridge
the international borders and promote regional
identity. The potency of dialect for regional
grass-roots protest was recognized also by
Liedermacher in the north of Germany. Brokdrp
an de Elv by Oswald Andrae and Helmut Debus
arose from the 1976 protests in Brokdorf, where
the level of militancy among the protesters reached
new heights. The songs refrain invokes solidarity
with the Wyhl protest:

28

In Brokdrp an de Elv,
in Wyhl un Esenshamm
dat drvt wi nich vergten.
Dar mtt wi gegen an.
In Brokdorf an der Elbe,
In Wyhl und Esenshamm
das drfen wir nicht vergessen.
Wir mssen dagegen ran,
(Andrae 6869)

Meanwhile in Bavaria, Sepp Raith took the traditional song Sabinchen war ein Frauenzimmer
and adapted it for purposes of protest against the
power plant at Gundremmingen, Oberbayern
(A3). Instead of coming from Trauenbrietzen,
Sabinchens suitor comes from Gundremmingen
and is an engineer at the plant. He brings radioactivity into the home, from which Sabinchen becomes sick and dies. The song retains its simple
folksong melody, is in standard German and is useful for acquainting students with not only the original song, but also the genre of the Moritat, and the
politically motivated parody. It demonstrates the
continuing relevance of traditional folksong (without knowing the original you cannot fully appreciate the contemporary version) as well as the potency of song for political purposes. The song is
performed by the trio Biermsl Blosn, who have
built a reputation since the early 1980s for performance of incisive, witty, critical song texts sung in
Bavarian linguistic and musical idiom. As a ballad,
the song tells a clear and simple story, making it
immediately engaging for the student listener. It allows for cultural observations about mittlere Reife,
discussion of vocabulary clusters (Sicherheitsanzug, -knopf, -versprechen, -nadel; Kernkraftwerk, -bursche, -gegner). In addition, the song
contains a couple of distinctive Bavarianisms (final
s on 2nd-person plural verb forms, lassts, bleibts;
and reduction of initial unstressed syllables,
gsund). Students can be asked to retell the story
from the point of view of Sabinchen or to dramatize
and perform it in their own words as a video production.
Biermsl Blosn were one of the acts performing
at the WAAhnsinn concert against the proposed
Wackersdorf nuclear reprocessing plant (Wiederaufbereitungsanlage [WAA]) in July 1986. For four
years, beginning in December 1985, local farmers
and villagers, students from nearby Regensburg
and other university cities, and concerned citizens
from Bavaria and elsewhere raised vocal protest
against the project. Violence between police and
militant protesters erupted along the three mile fortified fence that surrounded the project site in the

UP 41.1 (Spring 2008)

Taxldner Forst. The Bavarian government and

energy companies were prepared to invest ten billion marks in the project after it had become clear in
1979 that the construction of a reprocessing plant
in Gorleben, Lower Saxony, was politically untenable. As early as spring 1980, rumors began to circulate that the Wackersdorf site was now favored,
and in October 1981 the Brgerinitiative Schwandorf was founded. The official decision to build the
plant at Wacksersdorf came in February 1985. A
focal point of the protest was the WAAhnsinnFestival which took place on July 26 and 27, 1986,
in nearby Burglengenfeld in the Oberpfalz. The
fifth such festival, the 1986 event included a concert with appearances by such prominent names as
Kevin Coyne, Wolfgang Niedecken and BAP,
Theatre du Pain, Udo Lindenberg, die Toten
Hosen, Gnter Walraff, Herbert Grnemeyer,
Haindling, and Wolfgang Ambros. 120,000 attended; 6,000 police were on duty (Allnutt, et al.
WAAhnsinn). Earlier that year, on April 26, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl had taken place, the
most recent and most serious in a chain of nuclear
accidents that collectively had threatened the lives
and health of thousands and in the case of Chernobyl, millions. Other accidents had already occurred at Windscale (1957), Wrgassen (1973),
Brunsbttel (1978), Three Mile Island (1979), La
Hague (1981), Tokai Mura (1984), Pickering
(1984), New Delhi (1984), and Karlsruhe (1985).
The Wackersdorf project was eventually cancelled
in May 1989. On the site in the middle of the forest
which had been clear cut to accommodate it, an industrial park has been erected that now employs
3,500. Perhaps a claim can be made that the power
of song contributed to the successful assertion of
the popular will and the eventual economic benefit
of a struggling region.

Ecology, Environment
The close tie between nuclear and environmental issues in the German consciousness is reflected in the title of the Bundesministerium fr
Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorensicherheit,
which opened in 1986. Also, during the late 1970s
a new political party had been coalescing around
the principles of grass-roots democracy, social activism, ecology, and pacifism, including the demand for German withdrawal from NATO. The
anti-party party, Die Grnen, was officially
founded in 1980 and succeeded in securing 27
seats in the Bundestag in 1983. In 1987, it was able

WICKHAM: IDENTITY THROUGH SONG

to expand this to 44 seats. Anti-nuclear positions

have always been central to Green politics in Germany. The challenges for Umwelt and Naturschutz
reach far beyond atomic issues, however. Problems of sustainability and pollution had become
front-burner matters with the publication of Limits
to Growth by the Club of Rome in 1972 and continued with the oil crisis of 1973, the recognition of the
depletion of the ozone layer in 1977, and the death
of German forests (Waldsterben) documented
from the early 1970s, for which acid rain is held primarily responsible. The interconnectedness and
relevance for all life on the planet of climate
change, loss of biological diversity, desertification,
domestic and hazardous waste disposal, water pollution, and air pollution found across-the-board
acceptance in Germany by the beginning of the
1980s when the Green Party arrived on the scene.
Hannes Wader pays heed to this in his 1983
song Die bessere Zeit (A4). In four stanzas and a
lengthy refrain, Wader uses the notion of acid rain
stinging his eyes and scalp, and burning his plants
and trees, to trigger a look backward for a better
time. He cannot find it in the past, but recognizes
that whether or not the future holds a lifeless desert
or a flourishing garden depends on our actions. As
with other songs discussed here, the Nazi past is
part of the picture. Just as acid rain falls now, so, according to the lyrics of the second stanza, the ashes
of incinerated human corpses fell to earth in earlier
summers, when the air was clean, the rivers clear,
and the forests thicker. The third stanza casts its
glance further back, to World War I and beyond,
where violent human conflict and nature coexisted,
but which could scarcely be called eine bessere
Zeit. What we think of as environmentally better
times were in fact, from the point of view of human
behavior, no better. The refrain reinforces the assurance that the future outcome steht in unserer
Macht. In the final stanza, a violent storm is likened to an apocalyptic response arising from the
Zorn dieser hilflosen, kranken Natur, who has
been tortured until she released her ultimate secret
(nuclear power?) and abused by the lords of global
demise (presumably politicians and ruthless exploiters of the earths resources). The punch line of
the song retains the anti-authoritarian mindset of
the sixties and seventies: hold the power-mongers
responsible! The solution is not presented, as
seemed predictable from the beginning of the song,
in terms of individual and collective green action,
but in terms of revolt against the Herren des
Weltuntergangs, because ihre Vernichtung
vershnt uns mit unsrer Natur. This militant atti-

29

tude seems to be a relapse into the violence earlier

criticized by the song text. A bellicose posture is also
reflected in the relentless dactylic meter and the
musical arrangement that accompanies Waders
performance. The acoustic guitar is supported by a
driving instrumentation of horns, bass, strings, and
drums, giving an unremitting, purposeful affect to
the recording. This complex and contradictory
song raises some intriguing issues that can challenge notions of living green that our students are
now coming to accept.
Waders song uses a wealth of varied vocabulary that opens up possibilities for vocabulary
building activities. The words for acid rain
(saurer Regen) are never used, but students can be
asked to identify the vocabulary that makes it clear
that this is what is meant. A simple assignment to reinforce familiar vocabulary and acquaint students
with new lexical material is to assign them to group
nouns according to semantic fields such as vegetation, animal life, time references, and weather phenomena. Students then seek the correct gender
and the plural formation for each. The modifiers
(adjectives and adverbs) and the verbs used with
each noun are then identified and inventoried. By
this time students have an array of vocabulary that
can be used for group writing exercises where students recombine the mini-lexicon derived from the
song to make new statements about the environment. At a higher level, students can be asked to
compose a crossword puzzle (with English or German clues, depending on the level) or even write
their own song stanza using this rich core vocabulary.
An advanced class can be charged to identify
everything that Wader views negatively in the song
and to postulate what the ideal would look like for
him. Was will Wader? can be the topic of a short
written assignment.

Patriotism and/or Militarism

Hardly any aspect of postwar Germanys relationship to its history in the first half of the 20th century is more fraught with problems than its relationship to patriotism and militarism. Patriotism took
sixty years to recover its respectability; only during
the World Cup soccer championship of 2006 did
Germans finally feel relaxed about waving the national flag. The lingering unease had been reflected
clearly when public, ceremonial statements were
necessary. A national sigh of relief was audible
when on May 8, 1985, President Richard von

30

UP 41.1 (Spring 2008)

Weizscker gave his carefully weighed speech on

the fortieth anniversary of the end of World War II.
He struck just the right tone of contrition and responsibility, while maintaining the dignity of a
leading European nation. In the same year, however, the visit by President Ronald Reagan and
Chancellor Helmut Kohl to the military cemetery at
Bitburg prompted cries of outrage because of the
appearance of paying tribute to SS men buried
there. Kohl had already earned criticism in 1984 for
his use of the phrase Gnade der spten Geburt,
implying immunity from guilt of generations born
since the war. Four years later, the President of the
Bundestag Philipp Jenninger resigned when his remarks about the fascination of National Socialism
on the fiftieth anniversary of the Kristallnacht
caused offense. When playwright Rolf Hochhuth
revealed the actions of Hans Filbinger, the Minister
President of Baden-Wrttemberg, who as a military judge at the close of World War II had sentenced servicemen to death, Filbinger was forced
in 1978 to step down. The Filbinger affair continued to make waves as late as April 2007 when
Gnther Oettinger, the incumbent Minister President of Baden-Wrttemberg, referred to Filbinger
in a eulogy as an opponent of the Nazi regime.
This troubled relationship to patriotism and the
militarism of the past emerges in songs such as
Hans Wells 1982 parody of Druntn in der grnen
Au (Drunt in da greana Au, Biermsl Blosn
26f), where the Filbinger case is the topic; in
Konstantin Weckers Vaterland from 1979, in
which a son with right-wing attitudes rejects his socialist fathers lack of patriotism during the Nazi
years, that is, until the son discovers that his friends
are neo-Nazis who have just beaten a man to death
and are planning more violence.5 Sepp Raiths updated version of Wer will unter die Soldaten challenges the call to national service in the
Bundeswehr (Biermsl Blosn, 1982); and Helmut
Debus and Oswald Andrae transposed Eric Bogles
No Mans Land into the plattdeutsch Suldat
Janssen (1981), where a traveler wonders about
the life and thoughts of the man who fell in 1916
and whose gravestone he has discovered.
Heldengedenktag (1985, A5) by Hans Well
(Biermsl Blosn) raises similar questions about the
wars of the past and the justification for militaristic
expressions of patriotism. In Bavarian dialect, the

5 This song may be read as relating to the events of

Weckers hit song Willy, in which neo-Nazis bait a
man into a violent response to their provocations

voice of the song ponders the wars of his

great-grandfather, grandfather, and father along
with their slogans, and he wonders what his own
drafting into the Bundeswehr will mean for him.
The refrain frs deutsche Vaterland, frs deutsche Vaterland drives home the question as to the
legitimacy of blind patriotism, the degree to which
its claims are justified, and where its limits should
be. The song closes with the pessimistic observation: Wir stehen zur Tradition mit deutschem
Gehorsam und Gewand. Die Verwandtschaft
wartet schon unten, frs deutsche Vaterland. The
deliberate ambiguity of wartet schon unten has
fatal implications. The dialect of the song intrigues
rather than scares students. In this text it extends
only to pronunciation and not to regionally restricted vocabulary and unfamiliar syntax. With the
help of a few lexical glosses, the phonological correspondences to Standard German are quickly recognized and the dialect easily decoded. The frequent repetitions in the song text quickly build familiarity.
Important for the progression from past to present in this song is the appreciation of the dates. Students need to identify the explicit time reference of
each of the four stanzas (1871, erster Weltkrieg,
1945, jetzt) and have a general sense of what each
reference means. Comprehension of the song is
also aided by identification of lines and phrases
that are repeated in each stanza; these need to be
understood only once. The word statt occurs in
the third line of each stanza; why? All of these insights give information not only about the sense of
the words, but also about the poetic structure of the
song. The parallel structure from one stanza to the
next underscores the fact that history is repeating itself. Does the final stanza continue the repetitious
pattern or is there a break? Is this a pessimistic song
or an optimistic one? How do the music and the
performance help us decide?

A Note on Dialect
Liedermacher occupy a peculiar space in the
culture. They have clear literary pretensions and
yet seek a mass audience (cf. Robb 93). Their texts
are frequently close to the art song and simultaneously they continue a tradition with populist

and beat him to death (1978). Cf. Pinkert-Saeltzer

77.

WICKHAM: IDENTITY THROUGH SONG

roots in folk-song and are part of the discourse of

social and political activism. They simulate a musical simplicity while at the same time betraying a
high level of virtuosity. The recording, distribution
and performance opportunities open to them are
national (even international), yet their connection
to folk tradition dictates that the regional ties not be
forgotten. In other words, both Standard German
and dialect are their natural idiom. Of course, the
preceding statements are generalizations for which
exceptions are easily found, but the tensions between the regional and the national, between the
local or individual issue and the universal or social
reference, between Mundart and Standardsprache, are part of the life force of Liedermacher productivity. Walter Mossmann, Roger Siffer, Wolfgang Niedeken, Konstantin Wecker, Oswald Andrae, Hans Well, Sepp Raith, as well as numerous
Austrians and Swiss have written and sung in what
for them is the language of intimacy and home, dialect (cf. Robb 144ff). In my experience, students are
intrigued by this. They view it as a puzzle whose solution depends on applying their acquired knowledge of German. As teachers, we need to encourage this curiosity but must be on our guard not to
treat dialect as a debased form of Standard German. It is important to recognize the linguistic integrity of dialectal varieties, their systems and regularities, their history and significance for the development of the standard language, their continuing
vitality in many regions, and their essential role in
German identity formation.

Conclusion
Of the hundreds of songs from the postwar period up to unification that one might choose for the
purpose of tracing threads of German identity formation, those discussed above are a few of the
most appropriate for contemporary American students. I have attempted to choose songs that have
retained some appeal beyond the context of their
genesis and operative context by virtue of their poetry, textual or musical quality, performance, or
some combination of these. The songs serve both
as points of access into the history and culture of
West Germany in the postwar period and as
self-sufficient products of that era, a documentation of preoccupations from three decades of
self-examination, self-determination, and identity
building. At the same time, all of the song themes
selected have a contemporary relevance and speak
to our students and the concerns of our time. The

31

clash of escalating material prosperity with cultural

and spiritual impoverishment evident during the
German economic boom of the postwar decades
can be felt today; the future of nuclear energy is
once again an issue, and the problem of the waste is
not yet satisfactorily resolved; environmental pollution has finally earned a place on American and
global agendas twenty years after Liedermacher
took up the cause; as international military engagement by American forces remains at the forefront of
national consciousness in the U.S., the role of individual responsibility in the context of personal and
national military options continues to be debated.
To this extent, these songs open windows not only
onto the German past but also onto immediate issues in our students own lives.

Works Cited

Allnutt, Michael, and Michael Herl, eds., WAAhnsinn. Der

Wackersdorf-Film. Die Filmbilder, Lieder, Texte, Reden,
Interviews, Dokumente. Nrdlingen: Greno, 1986.
Henke, Matthias. Die groen Chansonniers und Liedermacher. Wichtige Interpreten, bedeutende Dichtersnger. Hermes Handlexikon. Dsseldorf: ECON, 1987.
Krher, Oss and Hein. Rotgraue Raben. Vom Volkslied zum
Folksong. Heidenheim: Sdmarkverlag, 1969.
Maske, Adelheid and Ulrich. Das werden wir schon ndern.
Franz Josef Degenhardt und seine Lieder. Dortmund:
Weltkreis, 1977.
Petzold, Leander. Bnkelsang. Vom historischen Bnkelsang zum literarischen Chanson. Stuttgart, Metzler,
1974.
Pinkert-Saeltzer, Inke. Immer noch werden Hexen verbrannt Gesellschaftskritik in den Texten Konstantin
Weckers. Bern: Peter Lang, 1990.
Riha, Karl. Moritat, Bnkelsong, Protestballade. KabarettLyrik und engagiertes Lied in Deutschland. Knigstein:
Athenum, (1975) 1979.
Robb, David, ed. Protest Song in East and West Germany
since the 1960s. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2007.
Rothschild, Thomas. Liedermacher. 23 Portraits. Frankfurt
a.M.: Fischer, 1980.
Rundell, Richard J. West Germanys Liedermacher: Pop
Music and Social Criticism. European Studies Journal 3
(1986): 3553.
Schmidt, Mathias R. The German Song-Writing Movement of the Late 1960s and 1970s. Journal of Popular
Culture 13.1 (1979): 4454.
Sineveer, Kaarel. Folk-Lexikon. Reinbek: Rowohlt, 1981.
Thomas, R. Hinton, and Keith Bullivant. Literature in Upheaval: West German Writers and the Challenge of the
1960s. Manchester: Manchester UP; New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1974.

32

Wickham, Christopher J. Constructing Heimat in Postwar

Germany: Longing and Belonging. Lewiston: Edwin
Mellen, 1999.
Zimmermann, Hans-Dieter, ed. Lechzend nach Tyrannenblut. Ballade, Bnkelsong und Song. Colloquium ber
das populre und das politische Lied. Berlin: Gebr.
Mann, 1972.

UP 41.1 (Spring 2008)

Useful Websites
Deutsches Historisches Museum (LEMO) http://www.
dhm.de/lemo/home.html
Biermsl Blosn http://www.biermoesl-blosn.de/
Franz Josef Degenhardt http://www.franz-josef-degenhardt.de/
Hannes Wader http://www.scala-kuenstler.de/hannes-wader.html

Song Collections
Andrae, Oswald. Hollt doch de Duums fr den Sittich.
Niederdeutsche Texte, Lyrik, Prosa, Lieder, Werk und
Wirkung. Ed. Johann P. Tannen. Bremerhaven: Wirtschaftsverlag NW, 1983.
Biermsl Blosn, Gr Gott, mein Bayernland. Lieder und
Musikstcke. Zurich: Haffmans, 1994.
Bonson, Manfred, ed. Grne Lieder. Umwelt Liederbuch.
Reinbek: Rowohlt, 1980.
Degenhardt, Franz Josef. Kommt an den Tisch unter
Pflaumenbumen. Alle Lieder von Franz Josef Degenhardt. Mit Zeichnungen von Gertrude Degenhardt. Munich: Bertelsmann, 1979.
Dimension: Contemporary German Arts and Letters 19.1
(1979). Ed. Richard J. Rundell. Special issue on Liedermacher.
Heimann, Walter, and Ernst Klusen, eds. Kritische Lieder
der 70er Jahre. Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer, 1978.
Lassahn, Bernhard, ed. Dorn im Ohr. Das lstige Liedermacher-Buch. Zurich: Diogenes, 1982.
Ketels, Martin, ed. Liederbuch. Berlin: Student fr Europa
Student fr Berlin, 1974 (6th revision 1978).
, ed. Liederkiste. Berlin: Student fr Europa Student fr Berlin, 1977.
, ed. Liederkarren. Berlin: Student fr Europa
Student fr Berlin, 1979.
Krher, Hein and Oss, eds. Das sind unsere Lieder. Ein
Liederbuch. Frankfurt a.M.: Bchergilde Gutenberg,
1977.
Steinitz, Wolfgang. Deutsche Volkslieder demokratischen
Charakters aus sechs Jahrhunderten. 2 vols. Berlin:
Akademie, 1954, 1962, 1972.
Stern, Annemarie, ed. Politische Lieder 67. Oberhausen:
Asso Verlag Anneliese Althoff, 1967.
, ed. Politische Lieder 1970/71. Oberhausen: Asso
Verlag Anneliese Althoff, 1971.
, ed. Lieder gegen den Tritt. Politische Lieder aus fnf
Jahrhunderten. Oberhausen: Asso Verlag Anneliese
Althoff, 1972.
, ed. Lieder aus dem Schlaraffenland. Politische Lieder der 50er 70er Jahre. Oberhausen: Asso Verlag
Anneliese Althoff, 1976.
Wader, Hannes. Lieder. Frankfurt a.M.: Zweitausendeins,
1977.
. Liederbuch. Mainz: Schott, 1999.

Appendix
A1. Kirschen auf Sahne
Dieter Sverkrp
In dem kleinen Caf
mit dem Kopfschmerzenlicht
sitzt ein Liebespaar drin
so als wrs in Paris
aber da ist es nicht
In dem kleinen Caf
sitzt der zittrige Mann
mit der Narbe am Auge
das blickt die Verliebten
so freundschaftlich an
dieses Auge blieb hell
in fnf Jahren Kazett
und am Nebentisch Sahne
mit Kirschen die Dame
ist schn aber fett
Kirschen auf Sahne
Blutspur im Schnee
eine Mark fnfzig
sanftes Klischee
In dem kleinen Caf
Kriminalfernsehzeit
nur der Wilddieb in l
im Barockrahmen starrt
auf die Ewigkeit
und der alte Mann der
mal im Widerstand war
spricht nicht gerne davon
pro Tag Auschwitz fnf Mark
wieviel macht das im Jahr?
wenn die Liebenden gehn mssen
gren sie matt
zu dem Zittermann hin
weil der ihnen so aufmerksam zugeschaut hat
manche warn Juden
manche warn rot
dreiig Verletzte
schimmliges Brot

WICKHAM: IDENTITY THROUGH SONG

Und da denkt er es hat sich

vielleicht doch gelohnt
und die Schmerzen kommn wieder
er setzt sich gerade
er ist es gewohnt
der Geschenkevertreter
trinkt unentwegt Bier
es nistet das Graun in
der Rokokovase
gleich neben der Tr
und der zitternde Mann
wird verlegen und geht
denn er schmt sich weil all
die verdammte Erinnerung
nicht mehr verweht
Leben ist Leben
wer hat das nicht
zehntausend Tote
Neon macht Licht.
Recording: Quartett 67, Live in Saarbrcken, 1968.
Contrr-Musik, 2CD4304-2
Text: Annemarie Stern, ed. Politische Lieder 67.

A2. Deutscher Sonntag

Franz Josef Degenhardt
1. Wenn die Spinne Langeweile
Fden spinnt und ohne Eile
giftig-grau die Wand hochkriecht,
wenns blank und frisch gebadet riecht,
dann bringt mich keiner auf die Strae,
und aus Angst und rger lasse
ich mein rotes Barthaar stehn,
und lass den Tag vorbergehn,
hock am Fenster, lese meine
Zeitung, decke Bein mit Beine,
seh, hr und rieche nebenbei
das ganze Sonntagseinerlei.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
2. Da treten sie zum Kirchgang an,
Familienleittiere voran,
Htchen, Schhchen, Tschchen passend,
ihre Mnner unterfassend,
die sie heimlich vorwrts schieben,
weil die gern zu Hause blieben.
Und dann kommen sie zurck
mit dem gleichen bsen Blick,
Htchen, Schhchen, Tschchen passend,
ihre Mnner unterfassend,
die sie heimlich heimwrts ziehn,
da sie nicht in Kneipen fliehn.
Tada-da-da-dam ...

33

3. Wenn die Bratendfte wehn,

Jungfraun den Kaplan umstehn,
der so nette Witzchen macht,
und wenn es dann so harmlos lacht,
wenn auf allen Fensterbnken
Pudding dampft und aus den Schenken
schallt das Lied vom Wiesengrund
und da am Bach ein Birklein stund,
alle Glocken luten mit,
die ganze Stadt kriegt Appetit,
das ist dann genau die Zeit,
da frier ich vor Gemtlichkeit.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
4. Da hockt die ganze Stadt und mampft,
da Bratenschwei aus Fenstern dampft.
Durch die fette Stille dringen
Gaumenschnalzen, Schsselklingen,
Messer, die auf Knochen stoen,
und das Blubbern dicker Soen.
Hat nicht irgendwas geschrien?
Jetzt nicht aus dem Fenster sehn,
wo auf Hausvorgrtenmauern
ausgefranste Krhen lauern.
Was nur da geschrien hat?
Ich werd so entsetzlich satt.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
5. Wenn Zigarrenwolken schweben,
aufgeblhte Nstern beben,
aus Musiktruhn Donauwellen
pltschern, ber Mgen quellen,
dann hat die Luft sich angestaut,
die ganze Stadt hockt und verdaut.
Woher kam der laute Knall?
Brach ein Flugzeug durch den Schall?
Oder ob mitm Mal die Stadt
ihr Buerchen gelassen hat?
Die Luft riecht s und suerlich.
Ich glaube, ich erbreche mich.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
6. Dann gehts zu den Schlachtfeldsttten,
um im Geiste mitzutreten,
mitzuschieen, mitzustechen,
sich fr wochentags zu rchen,
um im Chor Worte zu rhren,
die beim Gottesdienst nur stren.
Schinkenspeckgesichter lachen
treuherzig, weil Knochen krachen
werden. Ich verstopf die Ohren
meiner Kinder. Traumverloren
hocken auf den Stadtparkbnken
Greise, die an Sedan denken.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
7. Und dann die Spaziergangstunde,
durch die Stadt, zweimal die Runde.
Hte ziehen, sprlich nicken,

34

wenn ein Chef kommt, tiefer bcken.

Achtung, da die Sahneballen
dann nicht in den Rinnstein rollen.
Kinder baumeln, ziehen Hnde,
man hat ihnen bunte, fremde
Fliegen - Beine ausgefetzt sorgsam an den Hals gesetzt,
da sie die Kinder beien solln,
wenn sie zum Bahndamm fliehen wolln.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
8. Wenn zur Ruh die Glocken luten,
Kneipen nur ihr Licht vergeuden,
dann wirds in Couchecken beschaulich.
Das ist dann die Zeit, da trau ich
mich hinaus, um nachzusehen,
ob die Sterne richtig stehen.
Abendstille berall. Blo
manchmal Lachen wie ein Windsto
ber ein Mattscheibenspchen.
Jeder schlrft noch rasch ein Glschen
und sthnt ber seinen Bauch
und unsern kranken Nachbarn auch.
Tada-da-da-dam ...
Recording: Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern. Polydor
CD 831 630-2. Also on seven other Degenhardt CDs,
see Degenhardt website.
Text: Degenhardt, Kommt an den Tisch unter Pflaumenbumen, 18.
Heimann and Klusen, p. 50.
Lassahn, p. 22.

A3. Sabinchen Sepp Raith

Sabinchen war ein Frauenzimmer, gar fromm
und tugendhaft
Sie diente seit der Mittleren Reife bei einer
Dienstherrschaft
Da kam aus Gundremmingen ein junger Mann
daher
Er wollte so gerne Sabinchen besitzen und war
ein Ingenieur
Sabinchen sprach er, schnes Mdchen, die
Maienluft weht lau
Kommst du mit mir nach Gundremmingen, und
wirst du meine Frau?
Ich hab einen sicheren Posten und einen
schlauen Kopf
Ich trag untertags einen Sicherheitsanzug und
drck nur den Sicherheitsknopf
Nach so viel Sicherheitsversprechen, da wurde
Sabinchen weich
Er schenkte ihr eine Sicherheitsnadel und sie
sich ihm sogleich
Und bald darauf war Hochzeit, mit

UP 41.1 (Spring 2008)

Hochzeitsmahl und Kirch

Dann zogen sie beide in seine Wohnung, gleich
hinter dem Kernkraftwerk
Doch schon nach drei, vier Monat, oh
Schrecken, da wurde Sabinchen krank
Am ganzen Krper warn rote Flecken, und auch
der Blutdruck sank
Die Zhne und die Haare fielen ihr alle aus
Und nach nicht einmal ganz zwei Jahren, trug
man sie aus dem Haus
Ihr Mdchen und ihr jungen Frauen, dies soll
euch zur Lehre sein
Lassts euch auf einen Kernkraftburschen, nur ja,
nur ja nicht ein
Schenkt eure schnen Augen und euren roten
Mund
Doch lieber uns, den Kernkraftgegnern, dann
bleibts ihr wenigstens gsund
Recording: Biermsl Blosn, Grss Gott, mein Bayernland.
Mood-Records 33.625 / 1982.
Text: Liner notes.

A4. Die bessere Zeit Hannes Wader

1. Es folgt nach den endlosen Wochen der
Sptsommerhitze
Nun wieder ein khlerer Tag
Ich trete ins Haus, bin durchnsst
Doch der Regen hat mich nicht erfrischt
Er hat meine Augen gertet
Die Kopfhaut, sie juckt und sie brennt
Ich trockne mich ab
Ich esse vergiftetes Fleisch
ffne vorher die Fenster noch weit
Um Blumen und Bume, von mir selbst
gepflanzt
In der Nsse ganz langsam verbrennen zu sehn
Und taste mich trumend zurck
In die gute, die bessere Zeit
Nein, ich kann sie nicht finden
Die bessere Zeit
Nicht in der Vergangenheit
Und ob in der Zukunft die Welt
Eine Wste in ewiger Nacht
Die niemals mehr Leben gebiert
Oder ein blhender Garten sein wird
Steht auch in unserer Macht
2. In frheren Sommern, der Wald stand noch
dichter
Die Luft war noch sauber, die Flsse noch klar
Doch fiel in den Forsten
Ein schrecklicher Schnee auf das saftige Laub
Wenn in jenen Tagen die Mordfen glhten

WICKHAM: IDENTITY THROUGH SONG

Verborgen, bewacht
Und doch allen bekannt
Bedeckte die Asche der Toten
Im weitesten Umkreis das Land
Dann floh vor dem Leichengeruch alles Leben
Die Vgel, der Wanderer und auch das Wild
Die Liebenden im hohen Gras
Packte in der Umarmung die Angst
Nein, ich kann
3. Ich tauche noch tiefer hinab in die Dunkelheit
Einer noch lnger vergangenen Zeit
Da schossen nach ewigen Kriegen
Die Wlder aus blutigem Schlamm
Da brachen die Birken aus Dchern
Der Haselnussstrauch
Hat die Straenpflaster gesprengt
Da hat im zertrmmerten Weinfass
Die Wlfin ihr Junges gesugt
Die Krhen beschmutzten die Ziffern der
Turmuhren
Hockten sich breit auf die Zeiger und schrien
Wer will uns vertreiben?
Wir haben gesiegt, wir beherrschen die Welt
Nein, ich kann
4. Der Westwind weht strker von See her, wird
wtend
Und presst immer schwrzere Wolken ins Land
Zerfetzt sie wie prallvolle Scke
Und Hagelschlag drhnt auf das Dach
Doch die Sintflut bleibt aus
Und ich frchte mich nicht vor dem Zorn
Dieser hilflosen, kranken Natur
Die unter der Folter sogar noch
Ihr letztes Geheimnis verrt
Missbraucht von den Herren des Weltuntergangs
Deren Zahl ist nur klein, ihre Namen bekannt
Nur ihre Vernichtung vershnt uns
Fr immer mit unsrer Natur
Nein, ich kann
Recording: Nicht nur ich allein. plne-Aris CD 212 837 42
Text: Liner notes.
Hannes Wader, Liederbuch. 1999

A5. Heldengedenktag Hans Well

1. Da Urgrovadda, hads ghoan, war a baamstarka Mo,
wie ma heit so leicht koan mehr findn ko.
Saabln statt Pfluag, so is seinazeit gwesn.
Auf da Gedenkdofi konn ma sein Nama no lesn
in deitscha Schrift und goidna Rand;
Vergimeinnicht dazu gmoin.
Oanasiebzg in Frankreich gfoin

35

frs deitsche Vaterland, frs deitsche Vaterland.

[Der Urgrovater, hats geheien, war ein
baumstarker Mann,
wie man heute so leicht keinen mehr finden kann.
Sbeln statt Pflug, so ists seinerzeit gewesen.
Auf der Gedenktafel kann man seinen Namen
noch lesen
in deutscher Schrift und goldenem Rand;
Vergissmeinnicht dazu gemalt.
Einundsiebzig in Frankreich gefallen
frs deutsche Vaterland, frs deutsche Vaterland.]
2. Da Grovadda, hoats, war a lustiga Mo,
wie ma heit so leicht koan mehr findn ko.
Kanona statt Butta, so is seinazeit gwesn.
Auf a Gedenkdofi konn ma sein Nama no lesn
in deitscha Schrift und goidna Rand
und a scheena farbign Druck:
Ausm erstn Woitkriag nimma zruck
[Weltkrieg nicht mehr]
frs deitsche Vaterland, frs deitsche Vaterland.
3. Dei Vadda, songs, Bua, des war a Mo,
[sagen sie, Bub]
wie ma heit so leicht koan mehr findn ko.
Panzer statt Brot, so is seinazeit gwesn.
Aufm Kriagadenkmoi konn ma sein Nama no lesn
in deitscha Schrift und goidna Rand,
mit an Haufa andre eingritzt:
Seit fnfavierzg in Ruland vermisst
frs deitsche Vaterland, frs deitsche Vaterland.
4. Mi hamsjetzt eizogn zur Bundeswehr.
[eingezogen]
An Eid derf i schwrn aufs deitsche Heer.
Kanona statt Butter, so is oiwei scho gwesn;
[alleweil (immer)]
Wer zoit denn des nchste Moi wieda de Spesn.
[Mal]
Mir stengan zur Tradition
[stehen]
mit deitschm Gehorsam und Gwand;
dVerwandschaft wart untn scho
frs deitsche Vaterland, frs deitsche Vaterland.
Recording: Tsch Bayernland, Mood Records 33.626 /
1985
Text: Liner notes.
Biermsl Blosn, Grss Gott, mein Bayernland. Lieder und
Musikstcke. Zurich: Haffmans, 1994, 28.