[In einem kühlen Grunde]1
da geht ein Mühlenrad,
mein Liebchen ist verschwunden,
[die]2 dort gewohnet hat.

Sie hat mir Treue versprochen,
gab mir einen Ring dabei,
sie hat die Treue gebrochen,
das Ringlein sprang entzwei.

Ich möcht' als Spielmann reisen
[weit]3 in die Welt hinaus,
und singen meine Weisen
und [gehn]4 von Haus zu Haus.

Ich möcht' als Reiter fliegen
wohl in die blut'ge Schlacht,
[um stille]5 Feuer liegen
[Im Feld bei dunkler]6 Nacht.

[Hör' ich]7 das Mühlrad gehen,
[Ich]8 weiß nicht, was ich will,
Ich möcht' am liebsten sterben,
Dann wär's auf einmal still.

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View original text (without footnotes)

Note: Kreutzer's version is sometimes erroneously credited to Uhland. The original poem is also sometimes titled "Untreue" and substitutes "Liebste" for "Liebchen" in line 1-3.

¹ Kreutzer: "In jenem Tale dort unten" ; and sometimes "In jenem Thal dort unten"
² Kreutzer: "das"
³ Kreutzer: "wohl"
⁴ Kreutzer: "zieh'n"
⁵ Kreutzer: "an stillem"
⁶ Kreutzer: "einsam bei kühler"
⁷ Kreutzer: "Ich hör"
⁸ Kreutzer: "und"

Text Authorship:

• by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", appears in Gedichte, in 7. Romanzen [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
• sometimes misattributed to Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "In einem kühlen Grunde", op. 19 (Acht deutsche Lieder) no. 6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "In einem kühlen Grunde", op. 19 (Acht deutsche Lieder) no. 7 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ignaz Brüll (1846 - 1907), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", op. 43 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1882 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Dessauer (1798 - 1876), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein" [ bass and piano ], Berlin: Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alexander Fesca (1820 - 1849), "Die Muhle im Thale", op. 57 (Zwei Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor) und Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1848 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Braunschweig, Meyer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Rudolf Förster (1860 - 1894), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Hug [sung text not yet checked]
• by Martin Friedmann (1895 - 1943), "Paraphrase over In einem kühlen Grunde", 1940 [ bass, chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Albin Fries (b. 1955), "In einem kühlen Grunde", op. 37 no. 8 (2013) [ voice and piano ], from 8 Eichendorff-Lieder, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Gernsheim (1839 - 1916), "Untreue", op. 3 (Sechs Lieder) no. 3, published 1865 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Glück (1793 - 1840), "Untreue", 1814, view a video of an arrangement of this song by Comedian Harmonists [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Gustav Heinrich Graben-Hoffmann (1820 - 1900), "In einem kühlen Grunde (The broken Ringlet)", op. 51, published 1859 [ low voice and piano ], Hamburg, Schuberth [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. R. Hellmann , "Das zerbrochene Ringelein", op. 1 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Hirsch , "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", op. 26 no. 12, published 1843 [ voice and piano ], from Liebesfrühling. Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 12, Leipzig, Whistling [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alexis Holländer (1840 - 1924), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder im Volkston, für mittlere Stimme ) no. 5, published 1864 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 - 1921), "In einem kühlen Grunde", 1876 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "In einem kühlen Grunde", 1995, first performed 1997 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], from ...wie in Welschland lau und blau... : Acht Chorlieder für Männerchor a cappella, no. 4, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bruno Oscar Klein (1858 - 1911), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", op. 9 (Acht deutsche Volkslieder) no. 1, published 1888 [ voice and piano ], from Acht deutsche Volkslieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Berlin, Fr. Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Klein (1802 - 1862), "Bruch der Treue", published 1834 [ alto and piano ], from Sechs Gesaenge, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Conradin Kreutzer (1780 - 1849), "Das Mühlrad" [ voice, clarinet, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Conradin Kreutzer (1780 - 1849), "Das Mühlrad", op. 72 no. 1, KWV 9110 no. 1, published [c1816] [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder, no. 1, Wien, Pennauer [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felicitas Kukuck (1914 - 2001), "In einem kühlen Grunde" [ 2 voices ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), "Das zerbrochene Ringlein", NWV 14 (1863) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Dávid Popper (1843 - 1913), "In einem kühlen Grunde", op. 2 (Fünf Lieder) no. 3 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Schlesinger'sche Buch- und Musikhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789 - 1860), "Untreue", op. 7 no. 2, published 1826 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ], from Zwölf Volkslieder für vier Männerstimmen, erstes Heft, no. 2, Tübingen: Heinrich Laupp'sche Buchhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
• by Theodor Twietmeyer , "Das zerbroch'ne Ringlein", op. 3 (4 Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1850 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text not yet checked]
• by Erich Zeisl (1905 - 1959), "Untreue", 1938 [ soprano and piano ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
• ENG English [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "The mill wheel (The broken ringlet)", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Dans une froide vallée", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "La ruota del mulino", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 95

In a cool valley
there turns a mill-wheel;
Gone is my darling
who had lived there.

She promised to be constant
and gave me a ring to prove it;
she has broken her faith
and my ring cracked in two.

I would like to journey as a minstrel
into the wide world out there,
and sing my melodies
going house to house.

I would like to dash as a horseman
into bloody battle,
to lie around a quiet fire
in the field at darkest night.

When I hear the mill-wheel turning,
I do not know what I want -
I want most of all to die,
for then the wheel would at a single blow be silent.