Notgeld Poem - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,846
stratocaster Valued Member United Kingdom 240 Posts	Posted 12/04/2011 6:56 pm Thought maybe some German speaker might help me, I am trying to translate this poem from a 1920 Austrian notgelt from St. Agatha: Bom Feindesfoch und Tyraney Und seiner grossen Schinderei Mach uns, o lieber Herrgott, frei; Weil es dann gilt die Seel und Guat, So gilt's auch unser Leib und Bluat; Gott geb uns einen Heldenmuath! Es muass sehn! My German knowledge is limited to Google translate and this is how far I got: [Bom?] and [Feindesfoch?] tyranny And his big grind Make us, O dear Lord, free; Because then it is the soul and good, How it applies to our body and blood; God give us a heroism! It must see! Feindersfoch = Foch the enemy? the French general? This is the notgeld, I have the 50 heller version which is similar. Thank you Report this Post to the Staff

Sap Moderator Australia 16894 Posts	Posted 12/04/2011 8:46 pm My German's not much better, but I can help a bit. I would read the first two words as, "Vom Feindesjoch" - "From the Enemy's yoke". I think "gilt's" is poetic abbreviation for "giltes", rendering that line "It is also true our body and blood" Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
stratocaster Valued Member United Kingdom 240 Posts	Posted 12/07/2011 3:41 pm Thank you Sap, the poem does make more sense now. I was misreading the j for an f. I am getting more and more fascinated by the beauty of notgelds. Report this Post to the Staff
chrisild Pillar of the Community Germany 1238 Posts	Posted 12/26/2011 12:37 pm The poem was actually about 300 years old when St. Agatha used it on its notgeld. :) It was a motto used by Stephan Fadinger who, in the Thirty Years War (1618-48), was a local leader of "Lutheran rebels" in Upper Austria. Back then the enemy was Roman Catholic Bavaria; Fadinger was wounded, and shortly afterwards died, in 1626. Here is a German Wikipedia article about him: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Fadinger The last line is "Es muaß seyn", by the way. Those "ua" diphtongs (also in "Guat" or "Bluat") reflect the regional pronunciation; in today's standard German that line would be "Es muss sein", ie. "It must be" or "It shall be". Christian Edited by chrisild 12/26/2011 12:43 pm Report this Post to the Staff
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