Need expert German translation of this White-Rose-related song, Please.

[benburch]

I have found translations on the web, but am unsure of the accuracy of them. If any of you who are expert german speakers would provide me with a translation, I would be MOST grateful. I will use the translation to validate the ones I have found, or I may use it directly, crediting you if you so desire.

Thanks SO MUCH!


Die Gedanken Sind Frei

Die Gedanken sind frei,
wer kann sie erraten;
sie fliehen vorbei
wie naechtliche Schatten.
Kein Mensch kann sie wissen,
kein Jaeger erschiessen;
es bleibet dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei.

Ich denk was ich will,
und was mich begluecket,
Doch alles in der Still,
und wie es sich schicket.
Mein Wunsch und Begehren
kann niemand verwehren,
es bleibet dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei.

Und sperrt man mich ein
in finsteren Kerker,
das alles sind rein
vergebliche Werke;
denn meine Gedanken
zerreissen die Schranken
und Mauern entzwei:
Die Gedanken sind frei.

Drum will ich auf immer
den Sorgen entsagen
und will mich auf nimmer
mit Grillen mehr plagen.
Man kann ja im Herzen
stets lachen und scherzen
und denken dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei.

[Horse with no Name]

1. Not sure if this helps

The thoughts are free

The thoughts are can guessed free, who it; they escape past like nightly shadows. No person can know it, no
hunter shoot; it remains at the same time: the thoughts are free.

I think sends itself what I want, and what delights me, but all in the quiet, and like it. My wish and
desiring no one can forbid, it remains at the same time: the thoughts are free.

One and blocks are an in dark dungeon, that everything purely vain works; for my thoughts tear up me the
barriers and walls in two: the thoughts are free.

I want to renounce Drum on always the worries and want to take trouble on never about cricket more. One can
laugh and joke and think yes in the heart always at the same time: the thoughts are free.

On edit: I use a translation site that seems to do very well.:shrug:

[rogerashton]

5. That reads like an automatic translation, all right!

Here's another: "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" went into Russian and came back in English as "the wine is good but the meat is rotten!"

[Horse with no Name]

6. lol

that is good.
Actually--another site seemed to capture the essence much better.
Read below.

[rogerashton]

2. Huh?

"White Rose Related?" I don't understand that, and you will need someone whose German is better (newer!) than mine for a line-by-line translation. But "Die Geganken Sind Frei" is a great and very famous international anthem of intellectual freedom.

Then there was the wisecrack I saw on a physicist's bulletin board: "Die Gedankenexperimenten sind frei."

[benburch]

7. Sophie Scholl (my avatar) sung it in prison...

And the White Rose martyrs used it as a sort of anthem.

[rogerashton]

9. I see --

found the site for White Rose, too -- just one of many inspired by that song to fight for freedom.

But don't rely on those automatic translators! As they say in Italian (if I remember rightly) traddatore tradutore!

[wake.up.america]

12. Die Geganken Sind Frei" Should Gedanken = Thoughts

[YOY]

3. First lines my take

The thoughts are free
Who can guess them
They flee past
like night shadows.
No one can know it
No hunter's shot
it remain thereof
The thoughts are free.

[Horse with no Name]

4. This was another translation site that seemed smoother

The thoughts are free

The thoughts are free, who can do them guessed; they flee past
like nocturnal shade. No humans cannot it know, a hunter shoot; it
remain thereby: The thoughts are free.

I think which I wants, and which begluecket me, but everything in the
quiet, and as it send yourself. My desire and desiring cannot refuse
anybody, it remain thereby: The thoughts are free.

And one closes me in dark dungeon, all this is purely futile works;
because my thoughts tear the barriers and walls up divide: The
thoughts are free.

Drum wants I on always the concerns to renounce and wants on with
crickets more to never have trouble. One can always laugh and joke and
think in the heart thereby: The thoughts are free.

[rogerashton]

8. This looks reliable to me.

http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1185.html

[bobbieinok]

10. good site; the 1st translation is stilted....the 1 given later is better

[neweurope]

11. German expert here, unfortunately no English expert. Here goes:

The Thoughts are free

The thoughts are free
Who can guess them
They’re passing fleetingly like nightly shades
No man can know them
No hunter can shoot them
Agreed! (That’s final! Or something like this)
The thoughts are free

I’m thinking what I want
And what makes me happy
But everything quietly
And as it is proper
My wish and desire
Nobody can hinder
Agreed! (That’s final! Or something like this)
The thoughts are free

And if they lock me up
In dark (gloomy) dungeons
All that are purely fruitless deeds
Because my thoughts
Tear the barriers and walls apart
Agreed! (That’s final! Or something like this)
The thoughts are free


That’s why I want to forever
Renounce all worries
And don’t want to plague myself
With whims (crotchets)
In the heart one can always
Laugh and jest
While thinking: the thoughts are free

[wake.up.america]

13. Are you happy with the translations received thus far? If not, please ...

respond.

[hedda_foil]

14. Here ya go, Ben. 2 versions plus a history of the song back to 1524!

Two translations and commentary from http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1185.html

(Old German song, translation by Arthur Kevess and Gerda Lerner)
Die Gedanken Sind Frei (Our Thoughts Are Free)

Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts freely flower,
Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts give me power.
No scholar can map them,
No hunter can trap them,
No man can deny:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

I think as I please
And this gives me pleasure,
My conscience decrees,
This right I must treasure;
My thoughts will not cater
To duke or dictator,
No man can deny--
Die Gedanken sind frei!

And if tyrants take me
And throw me in prison
My thoughts will burst free,
Like blossoms in season.
Foundations will crumble,
The structure will tumble,
And free men will cry:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

Neither trouble or pain
Will ever touch me again.
No good comes of fretting,
My hope's in forgetting.
Within myself still
I can think as I will,
But I laugh, do not cry:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

-- Traditional


This song was apparently very popular immediately before and during World
War II. At a time when all freedoms were being attacked, Germans clung to
the fact that their thoughts were still free. It was a source of hope in the
concentration camps and an weapon of defiance to the resistance. (In fact, I
found this translation on a website about the student protest group, The
White Rose).

The poem has a long history of protest. It can be traced back to the 12th
Century when the minstrel (!) Dietmar von Aist sang "Die Gedanken, die sind
ledig frei".

It appeared in its current form during the Peasant Wars of 1524-5, a series
of rural uprisings directed against unbearable taxation. Both Lutheran and
Catholic landlords cut the rebels down: Martin Luther himself condemned the
peasants. But they didn't really care -- after all, their thoughts were
still free.

I guess it's still the same today. The manipulation of ideas and thoughts,
whether in Baghdad or Washington, will ultimately fail, because "Die
gedanken sind frei!"

Priscilla

PS: Interestingly, there are several fairly different versions and
translations of this song. If you want to read it in the original German, or
listen to the song set to music, check out this site:
http://members.aol.com/masksfaces/whiterose/free.html

And here's a not-so-popular version that some people say is more authentic:

Thoughts are free!
Who can guess them?
They fly along like nightly treasures.
No man can know them
No hunter can shoot them
With powder and lead
Thoughts are free!

I think about what I want
and what makes me happy
But everything quietly,
and just how it comes.
To my wish and desire
Nobody can oppose,
It stays this way:
Thoughts are free!

And if they lock me in a dark dungeon
That is something that can be forgiven
'Cause my thoughts tear up the bars and walls.
Thoughts are free!

I think about what I want
and what makes me happy ...

And if they lock me in a dark dungeon ...

I love wine, my girl most of all,
Only me she pleases best
I am not alone
With my glass of wine
My girl is with me:
Thoughts are free!

That's why I will never worry anymore
And I will never tease myself
with whims anymore
Because in one's heart
One can keep laughing and joking
While thinking
Thoughts are free!

[bobbieinok]

15. my try

(My) thoughts are free
who can guess them accurately?
they fly past like shadows in the night.
No human can know them,
no hunter can shoot them dead;
it stays true:
(my) thoughts are free.

I think what I want to
and what makes me happy;
yet everything quietly*
and appropriately.*
No one can bar/keep away
my wish and desire:
it stays true:
(my) thoughts are free.

If someone locks me up
in a dark dungeon,
that's all purely/completely
action in vain;
for my thoughts
tear apart/in two
the cells and the walls.
(My) thoughts are free.

Therefore I want/intend to**
deny cares for ever,
and never any longer plague
myself with unimportant things.
A person can indeed
constantly laugh and joke in the heart,
and think at the same time:
thoughts are free.

*these 2 lines don't quite work
**edited to change translation of 'will'

NOTE: the Rice link has links to the tune, etc

[benburch]

17. Excellent!

Thanks so much!

And thanks to everybody who helped with this.

[benburch]

16. I think we have this covered now.

Thanks, guys! I knew I could depend on you.

The reason this song has come up is that a friend of mine used it in a publication and was accused of being an anti-semite! The ridiculous claim was made that this was Adolf Hitler's favorite song!

I am trying to help her clear her good name.

So, if any of you have any knowledge of Hitler loving this song, please let me know?

Thanks!

[rogerashton]

18. Sounds like

the other person might have confused it with the Horst Wessel Lied.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/horstwessel.html