My Alsace! God greet you!

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Mein Elsaß! grüß dich Gott!

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Choose for Diff

  Mein Elsaß! grüß dich Gott!
Nun bist du unser wieder! 
Und singst trotz Hohn und Spott 
Die alten deutschen Lieder! 
  O horch! wie's wiederhallt 
Ringsum in allen Gaun, 
Daß jauchzen Feld und Wald 
Und Hügel, Flühn und Aun! 

  Nun schau getrost hinab, 
Mein Münster, auf die Lande! 
Für ewig liegt im Grab 
Die alte Schmach und Schande!
  Die Muttersprache traut 
Kehrt an den Herd zurück, 
Und frisch und fröhlich baut 
Das Volk am neuen Glück!

  Mein Elsaß! zage nicht! 
Du bist ja unser wieder! 
Gott, deinem Schirm und Licht 
Sing Dank- und Freudenlieder!
  Er selber machte dich 
Zur Wacht nunmehr am Rhein! 
Bleib treu! daß ewiglich 
Er deutsch, ja deutsch mag sein!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 317.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Gruß an das Elsaß", appears in Liederbuch, in 5. Vermischte Lieder, no. 342 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Anton Fuhlhaber (b. 1839) [sung text not yet checked]
by Karl Seitz (1844 - 1905), "Gruss an Elsass", op. 18, published 1876 [ men's chorus ], in: Album patriotischer Männerchöre. Für alle deutschen Gesangvereine, Militair-, Krieger-, Veteranen-Chöre und höhere Bildungsanstalten deutscher Jünglinge, Hof: Büching [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-05-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 113

My Alsace! God greet you!

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Choose for Diff

  My Alsace! God greet you!
Now you are ours once more!
And despite scorn and derision,
You sing the old German songs!
  Oh listen! how it echoes
Round about in all the counties,
So that field and forest and hills,
Rock faces and meadows rejoice!

  Now, my cathedral [of Strasbourg], gaze confidently
Down upon the lands!
The old disgrace and shame
Lies forever in the grave!
  The familiar mother tongue
Returns to the hearth,
And briskly and cheerfully the people
Work to build a new happiness!

  My Alsace! do not be apprehensive!
For you are once more ours!
To God, your protection and light,
Sing songs of gratitude and joy!
  He Himself made you to be
Henceforth the watch at the Rhine!
Remain faithful! so that the [the Rhine]
May be German, yes German!

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Gruss an Elsass" = "Greeting to Alsace"
"Gruß an das Elsaß" = "Greeting to Alsace"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2026 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Gruß an das Elsaß", appears in Liederbuch, in 5. Vermischte Lieder, no. 342
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-04
Line count: 24
Word count: 135