“Valhalla”

Hindenburg, the gray tomcat,
Hindenburg, the father of heroes
In the great Wagner opera:
„Germany over all of Europe“

Lies buried in Tannenberg,
As they buried him,
Adolf called out to everyone’s joy:
„Enter now Valhalla!“*

Disobeying Adolf’s command,
The faithful soul
Of Hindenburg wandered immediately
From one place to another,

It escaped the world’s turmoil
And reached the seventh heaven,
Where above the veil of clouds
Donar, Loki, Baldur, Freya
And Lord Wotan with the ravens
Have their divine abode.

Hindenburg strolled there
With the magnificent Valkyries,
The Sieglindes and Brunhildes
Who reside in the fields of Valhalla

As the ancient legends tell,
Constantly keeping company
The departed German heroes,
And so it is a pleasure

For most German heroes
To find a place up there.
Up there, one sees the Valkyries
Rehearsing martial dances,

And after each rehearsal,
They go to the dressing room
Where they leave their armor,
As it doesn’t quite fit as house attire.

And in heavenly garments,
Adorned with colorful ribbons,
And with many pretty bows,
They bring the hero his pipe

And his warm felt slippers,
And they peel the potatoes,
And the hero reads the newspaper,
Reading about Wotan’s wise guidance

Whose marvelous ways
One sometimes doesn’t understand,
And only vaguely perceive,
But why else would one be Teuton?

Hindenburg was very content,
Found it more beautiful than down here,
Allowed himself to be treated by gods and Valkyries
With „mead“ every day,

The Teutonic nectar drink,
And often he said: I thank
Adolf Hitler the corporal
For the wonderful times

That I experience up here,
Come, Brunhilde, my Hebe,
Come, you goddess of my victories,
Bring me ever-new jugs!

And so he was always in a daze,
For what else is one Teuton for?
Hindenburg, the gray tomcat,
Hindenburg, the father of heroes,
Today he himself has a hangover.

Aspirin and Bullrich pills
Cannot ease the pain,
Which the times bring upon him,
And the deeds of the corporal,

Whose crazy madness
Has brought ruin to the realm,
And now they drag his corpse
Out of the Tannenberg masonry,
And he is not comfortable with it.

Goddesses and also Valkyries
Can no longer touch him.
No, he feels fallen from Wotan’s halls,
Fallen from the clouds.
He fell harshly onto the earth
And asks anxiously what will become of him.

That’s exactly how it goes for the German people,
Who also fell from the clouds
Of years of Goebbels‘ lies,
And recognize: The enemies are winning,
See: The German defeat
Is completely beyond question today.

Hermann Göring’s grand gala,
Hitler’s swastika Valhalla
With the Valkyries of the womenhood
Can no longer impress,
Can no longer move Germany,
It, like the father of heroes,
Also has a tremendous hangover.

*Actual words of the Führer at Hindenburg‘s funeral in 1934.