O wär ich am Neckar, o wär ich am Rhein,
Im blühenden Rebenland, da möcht ich sein!
Wo das Leben ein sprudelnder Becher der Lust,
Wo ich wandert' und [wohnte]1 an Freundes Brust;
Am Neckar, am Rhein, 
Im blühenden Rebenland, [da]2 möcht ich sein!

[Ihr Mädchen, ihr Städtchen]3 am Ufer hinab,
Ihr des Herzens [Lust und]4 des Herzens Lab,
Ihr [klingenden, singenden]5 Wellen des Rheins,
Ihr Lüfte des Lebens, ihr Düfte des Weins,
Durch die jubelnde Brust
Geht mir alle das Leben und alle die Lust!

Laßt mich wandern und singen wohl durch die Welt,
Laßt mich wohnen und weilen da, wo mir's gefällt:
Dann zieh ich zum Neckar, dann zieh ich zum Rhein,
Von den Thälern zu Berg, von den Bergen tahlein,
[Und ich jauchz' es hinaus:]6
Wo mein Herz und mein Lied ist, da bin ich zu Haus!

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Otto Roquette, Liederbuch, Stuttgart und Tübingen: J.G. Cotta’scher Verlag, 1852, pages 32-33

¹ Abt: "wohnt'"
² Abt: "ja, da"
³ Abt: "Städtchen, ihr Mädchen"
⁴ Abt: "Lust, ihr,"
⁵ Esser: "singenden, klingenden"
⁶ Abt: "Hell jauchzend hinaus,"

Text Authorship:

• by Otto Roquette (1824 - 1896), "Am Neckar, am Rhein!", appears in Liederbuch [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), "Am Neckar, am Rhein", op. 89, published 1852 [ baritone and piano ], Offenbach, André [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinrich Esser (1818 - 1872), "Am Neckar, am Rhein", op. 42 (3 Lieder) no. 3, published 1854 [ voice and piano ], Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken (1810 - 1882), "Am Neckar, am Rhein", op. 56 (Vierstimmige Männergesänge), Heft 2 no. 3, published 1852 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Heinrich Stuckenschmidt (1819 - 1870), "Am Neckar, am Rhein", op. 7 (Vier Gedichte für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1855 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , "On the Neckar, on the Rhine", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 146

O were I on the Neckar, O were I on the Rhine,
In the blooming land of vineyards would I like to be!
Where life is a gushing goblet of joy,
Where I wander and abide near my friend's heart;
On the Neckar, the Rhine, in blooming land of 
vineyards, Yes, there would I like to be!

Your villages, the maidens on your banks,
You, my heart's joy, you, my heart's comfort,
The ringing, singing swells of the Rhine,
The breezes of life, the smell of the wine!
Through my jubilant breast, my jubilant breast,
All of life and delight comes to me.

Let me travel and sing throughout the world,
Let me stay and dwell wherever it pleases me,
Then - I return to the Neckar, I return to the Rhine,
From valleys to mountain, to valleys again,
Brightly shout it abroad, brightly shout it abroad,
Where my heart and song are, there is my home!