I. Founder’s Morning Song Vanished has the long, dark night,
The bourse already shines in new splendor,
To spritely life has awakened all that
Which lay asleep in heavy dreams,
And so the day begins its course.
I heave a sigh of relief before the worry and toil,
And see around me in the springtime green,
That flowers are unfolding their blossoms,
So new courage blossoms in my heart,
My stocks are doing quite well right now.
II. Founder’s Midday Song
I am a founder, cheerful and alive,
Today, already, I’ll sit down at the table
As I ought not to labor any more
Except to count the interest I’ve accrued.
Thank God, I know how to help myself,
Nothing shall be my care, neither the town nor state:
Loyally devoted to the founder’s life am I
And thus procure for myself a decent life.
What do I care about service to the public?
The main thing here is profit for myself:
And as a just reward I’ll make for myself alone
A bourgeois crown out of all my shares.
Source: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Founding Songs (1872).
Original German text reprinted in Wolfgang Piereth, ed., Das 19. Jahrhundert. Ein Lesebuch zur deutschen Geschichte, 1815-1918 [The 19th Century: A German History Reader, 1815-1918], 2nd ed. Munich: Beck, 1997, p. 93.
Translation: Erwin Fink