“At Our Place”

Cleanliness – that is German
As soon as the soldiers leave their combat positions and take up residence in the caves, a big washing and cleaning begins. First of all, shaving, then “one feels human again.” – Hamb. Ill. No. 19 and No. 12 /1944

Next door, the soldiers are stirring
The broom is scratching, dust is wafting from the open windows, and three men are whistling cheerfully at each other. In front of their sacred images, the icons, the mother crosses herself with her children in the face of German cleanliness obsession. “She will eventually realize that it‘s quite warm without dirt as well, but the kitchen has to be cleaned too,” says Hein.

You have always in foreign lands
Gained respect and popularity
By wanting to change them
And because you laugh about things

That are different from home
In your German homeland,
When you travel, you praise endlessly
Your own cultural standing,

The punctuality of trains,
The strict cleanliness of streets,
The discipline of your veterans,
You feel sorry for all foreign lands.

“At our place” only one can brew coffee
“At our place” ons bakes the best bread
And there’s more meat and fewer bones,
The crayfish are much more red,

Order is strict and embarrassing with us,
And when it comes to details, one, two, three
Abroad, things are not so clean,
And the greatest sloppiness prevails.

Wherever you go, “at our place” is better,
There is no comparison
Everything is more beautiful, everything is larger
At home, “at our place” in the German Reich.

In Germany, traveling is more pleasant
And it goes smoothly and quickly,
Of course, it’s also more comfortable
If you stay in a German hotel.

And only the German people are clean,
In foreign lands, the greatest mess prevails
And everything else is just smoke and mirrors,
But “at our place” in Germany

One is born with cleanliness,
Cleanliness is inherent,
We wash our ears daily,
Because we are inflamed by cleanliness.

You’re already fostering in your children
The superiority complex,
They stand, that can’t be prevented,
Perplexed by their own cleanliness.

You were given by dear God
The monopoly for cleanliness,
Order can only flourish in Germany
Only in Germany does one feel well.

Wherever you go in foreign zones,
You say it loud and unreserved,
“At our place,” it’s much better to live,
And one is more cultivated.

You praise and laud fanatically,
Your own superiority,
No wonder you are so likeable
And so beloved abroad.

You swing the German censers
And sing in chorus: At our place, at our place
In the German Reich, everything is better,
A self-satisfied grunt

Leads you to show off
As the educators of this world
And feel chosen,
Because one considers oneself better,

You think that only what’s German is worthy,
Yes, only from Germany comes the light,
The beams in the German eye
You unfortunately do not see.