[Es stand ein Sternlein]1 am Himmel,
Ein Sternlein guter Art;
Das tät so lieblich scheinen,
So lieblich und so zart!

Ich wußte seine Stelle
[Am Himmel, wo es]2 stand;
Trat abends vor die Schwelle,
Und suchte, bis ich's fand;

[Und]3 blieb dann lange stehen,
Hatt' große Freud' in mir,
Das Sternlein anzusehen;
Und dankte Gott dafür.

Das Sternlein ist verschwunden;
Ich suche hin und her
Wo ich es sonst gefunden,
Und find' es nun nicht mehr.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Kleffel: "Es stand ein Stern am Himmel" (further changes may exist not shown above) ; Ruck-Hanke: "Ein Sternlein stand"
² Ruck-Hanke: "Wo es am Himmel"
³ Weingartner: "Ich"

Text Authorship:

• by Matthias Claudius (1740 - 1815), "Christiane" [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Ein Sternlein stand am Himmel", op. 502 (Vier Gesänge für vier Männerstimmen) no. 2, published 1876 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
• by Julius Buths (1851 - 1920), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 6 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1875 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Seitz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Dessauer (1798 - 1876), "Verschwundener Stern", op. 47 (6 Lieder für 2 Stimmen mit Pianoforte) no. 6, published 1859 [ vocal duet with piano ], Wien, Wessely und Büfing [sung text not yet checked]
• by Clara Faisst (1872 - 1948), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 10 no. 7 (1914-8) [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder aus des Knaben Wunderhorn, no. 7, Karlsruhe: Selbstverlag, später: Karlsruhe: Müller [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Haas (1879 - 1960), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 5 (Vier Lieder) no. 2 (1906) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Hardt , "Christiane", published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, Berlin, Sulzer Nachf. Sort. [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Isador) George Henschel (1850 - 1934), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 26 (Fünf Chorlieder für Sopran, Alt, Tenor und Bass a capella) no. 1, published 1875 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Maria Herz (1878 - 1950), "Der verschwundene Stern" [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Hinrichs (1820 - 1892), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 7 (Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran (oder Tenor) mit Pianofortebegleitung), Heft 1 (Zwölf Volkslieder) no. 10, published 1879 [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ], Leipzig, Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Kahn (1865 - 1951), "Das verschwundene Sternlein", op. 75 (45 Lieder für dreistimmigen Chor a capella) no. 12 (1924) [ three-part chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arno Kleffel (1840 - 1913), "Das verschwundene Sternlein", op. 51 (Sechs Gesänge für vierstimmigen Frauenchor (S. I, II, A. I, II) mit unterlegtem Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1895 [ SSAA chorus and piano ], Berlin, Stern & Ollendorf [sung text not yet checked]
• by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Christiane", published 2008 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from 5 Liedchen von Liebe und Tod, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Th. Naus , "Christiane", op. 23 no. 1, published 1875 [ voice and piano ], in Die musikalische Welt, Braunschweig, Litolff [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Carl) Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (1810 - 1849), "Christiane", WoO. 2 [ alto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Peter Nowak (b. 1932), "Christiane", op. 56 (1985) [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Albert Maria) Robert Radecke (1830 - 1911), "Es stand ein Sternlein am Himmel", op. 2 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, published 1853 [ voice and piano ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822 - 1882), "Es stand ein Sterlein am Himmel", op. 195 (Zehn Gesänge für Männerchor) no. 8 (1860-70), published 1876 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Christiane" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), "Christiane", 1899 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Doris Ruck-Hanke , "Das Sternlein", published c1910? [ voice and piano ], from Aus meines Herzens Garten: 7 Lieder, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ernst (Friedrich Karl) Rudorff (1840 - 1916), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 23 (Sechs Lieder für vierstimmigen Frauenchor ohne Begleitung) no. 3, published 1877 [ four-part women's chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Schleuning , "Der Abendstern", op. 30 ([Zwanzig] Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 8, published 1899 [ voice and piano ], Zürich, Schleuning [sung text not yet checked]
• by P. Seipt , "Christiane", published 1885 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Eutritzsch-Leipzig, Müller [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Hugo Christian Ludwig Herkules Staehle (1826 - 1848), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 5 no. 1, published 1849 [ bass or baritone and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Bariton (oder Bass) mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Cassel, Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Katia Tchemberdji (b. 1960), "Christiane", 1994 [ choral a cappella ], from Vier Lieder aus "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" für gemischten chor a capella [sung text not yet checked]
• by Woldemar Voullaire (1825 - 1902), "Der verschwundene Stern", op. 23 (Drei Lieder) no. 2, published 1890 [ soprano, piano, and violin ], Leipzig, Robolsky [sung text not yet checked]
• by Felix Paul Weingartner (1863 - 1942), "Der versunkene Stern", op. 84 (Fünf Lieder) no. 1 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Christiane", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2004-05-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 76

There was a little star in the sky,
A star of good nature;
It used to shine so meekly,
So meekly and so mild.

I knew its place
In the sky where it stood;
In the evening I stepped out of the door
And was looking for it until I found it.

And then I remained standing,
Feeling a deep joy
To look at the little star;
And thanked God for it.

The little star is gone;
I try to find it here and there
Where I have found it before,
And find it now no more.