Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen?
This was originally written as a poem. It portrays the moon as a shepherd whose flock is the stars. It encourages children to live peacefully like the stars.
Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen?
Who Has the Most Beautiful Little Sheep
Lullaby
Lullaby
(German)
(English)
Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen?
Die hat der goldne Mond,
Der hinter unsern Bäumen
Am Himmel drüben wohnt.
Er kommt am späten Abend,
Wenn alles schlafen will,
Hervor aus seinem Hause
Zum Himmel leis' und still.
Dann weidet er die Schäfchen
Auf seiner blauen Flur;
Denn all die weißen Sterne
Sind seine Schäfchen nur.
Sie thun sich nichts zu leide,
Hat eins das andre gern,
Und Schwestern sind und Brüder
Da droben Stern an Stern.
Und soll ich dir eins bringen,
So darfst du niemals schrei'n,
Mußt freundlich wie die Schäfchen
Und wie ihr Schäfer sein.
Who has the most beautiful little sheep*?
It's the golden moon,
The one behind our trees
Who lives up in the sky over there.
He comes late in the evening,
When everything wants to sleep,
Out of his house
To the sky, quietly and silently.
Then he grazes the little sheep
In his blue meadow;
Because all the white stars
Are his little sheep.
They don't harm one another,
They love one another,
And they are sisters and brothers
Up there star to star.
And if you want me to bring you one
You must never shout,
You must be friendly like the little sheep
And like their shepherd is.
Notes
*Schäfchen can be translated as sheep, little sheep, lamb or flock.
Written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1830. In the 19th century, the song was sung to different tunes. Today, the song is usually sung to a melody that Johann Friedrich Reichardt had composed in 1790 for the song, "In stillem, heiterm Glanze" (text by Caroline Rudolphi).
"Fünfzig Kinderlieder" (Fifty Children's Songs, 1843) has the last stanza as:
Wenn ich gen Himmel schaue,
so fällt mir immer ein:
O lasst uns auch so freundlich
wie diese Schäfchen sein!
Translation:
When I look up,
That's how I always remember:
Oh, let us also be so kind
Like those sheep are!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Translated by Lisa.
