MovieChat Forums > Battle of the Bulge (1966) Discussion > What in the name of the song sung by the...

What in the name of the song sung by the young panzer commonders?

posted 21 years ago by wm_devilock
27 replies | jump to latest

What in the name of the song sung by the young panzer commanders?

Thank you for replying.

[–] cc1001 21 years ago

I could be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that the title was called "Wacht am Rhein".

[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Nikki Williams 21 years ago

It is, it's Das Panzerlied. Wacht Im Rhein is a different song.

[–] The_Khazi 19 years ago

May be wrong but I thought "Wacht Im Rhein" was the German code-name for the operation-such as Overlord was for d-day.

[–] John-Sigl 19 years ago

Is it not the most rousing "war song" you ever heard? Every time this film comes on the tube I watch it if for nothing other than hearing them sing Das Panzerlied. I turn the sound up to the top volume it can stand without blowing out my surround sound speakers and my wife comes running into the basement to see what the commotion is. I've done it so many times she stops running into the room now. When I finally do venture upstairs she says: "They lose the war. Get over it." But somehow.....I just can't. I watch Bridge at Remagen, The Battle of the Bulge...Saving Private Ryan....all the "Fortress Europe" movies hoping for a different conclusion....but it never comes.

[–] salexiev 19 years ago

You should hear the russian "Sacred War". If you can get it somehow, try maxing out the volume and believe me - instead of running into the basement your wife will get a gun and ask you where she can find some nazis to kill:)
As for the outcome of the war... I have to agree with you on this one - I'm not sure which form of Imperialism is worse - Germany's first half of the century one or you-know-who's second half of the century. Cheers!

[–] beavertoof 15 years ago

>>Is it not the most rousing "war song" you ever heard? Every time this film comes on the tube I watch it if for nothing other than hearing them sing Das Panzerlied. ...<<

Can't say i was routing for a different outcome, but that scene/song does make the hair stand up on my arms, and I can imagine hoping into a tank (something i would otherwise not care to do... i was in the air force).

[–] RbSnedlap 15 years ago

I agree its a VERY catchy song,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdl8pJ8RqTQ
and then there`s this version,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4av7zVClOk
I dont think I`ll ever see LEGO in quite the same way again.

"Any plan that involves loosing your hat is a BAD plan.""

[–] bevlakay 15 years ago

The panzerlied sung in the movie is rousing, but only the first verse. The choir couldn't learn the whole song ? On another note, some of the German branch songs even make fun of their British counter parts. One of Luftwaffe songs poke fun at Tommy's coming by hearing his engine rattle.

Amazingly I even came across a song for the signal corps (funklied).

[–] jloper 21 years ago

Yup, it was the Panzer Lied (Tank Song). Link to English lyrics and MP3s below.

http://www.rctankcombat.com/audio/panzerlied.html

[–] Sean1956 20 years ago

Thank you, jloper. I am something of a freak for songs in movies, especially war movies & your providing a link to this one is greatly appreciated.

Sean

[–] jloper 20 years ago

You're welcome! :)

[–] fingolfin623 20 years ago

Does anyone else no any other songs like the two mention above, cause they are really cool.

[–] KEEBLEIII 20 years ago

DO SEARCH. I HAVE FOUND MANY VERSIONS INCLUDING ONE IN MOVIE PLUS GERMAN MARCH MUSIC

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Spike-in-Berlin 19 years ago

Most of the branches of the Deutsche Wehrmacht, the German armed forces, had their own official song or anthem according. The U-boats had several songs like e.g. the extremely popular "Wir fahren gegen Engeland" ("we are going against England") and "Das U-Boot-lied" ("The U-Boat-Song). The "Panzerlied" from Battle of the Bulge is still the official Panzer (Tank)-Hymn in Germany. The Luftwaffe (Airforce) had several songs, one of the most populars being "Bomben auf Engeland" ("Bombs on England). Other branch-typical songs include "Lied der Panzergrenadiere" (Song of the armored infantry), "Rot scheint die Sonne" ("The sun shines red", the song of the paratroopers) and many more. There were also songs for the different theaters of war, e.g. a song for the eastern front, "Von Finnland bis zum Schwarzen Meer ("From Finland to the Black Sea") or a song for North Africa, "Panzer rollen in Afrika vor" (Tanks are rolling ahead in Africa).

[–] The_Khazi 19 years ago

It must be said the Germans did have some pretty rousing war music & we had George Formby!

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] seoulless 19 years ago

No wonder they lost the war. They were too busy making up songs.

[–] refra 19 years ago

Hello,
Plaese, can you help me finding the song (MP3 or ...) and the lyrics of the song "Wir fahren gegen Engeland", because my parents have told me so many times about Germans who sing this song, it makes all people of the village so scary.
I do so like to hear and read it. You would do me such a great pleaser.
Thank you very much, in advance.

[–] Spike-in-Berlin 19 years ago

You'll find "Wir fahren gegen Engeland" here:

http://ingeb.org/Lieder/heutewow.html

It includes both lyrics and MP3s of the song.

[–] GScarbo388 19 years ago

I have tried the link to the march song I love it I have looked for DVD but can not find it. AOl say it does not work.

[–] HenryCW 19 years ago

The song sung by the tank commanders in the film had earlier been identified by IMDB users in this thread as the Panzer Lied.

Another poster mentioned the song Wacht am Rhein. It is an old German patriotic song that had been around since the middle of the Nineteenth Century. If you want to hear this song, it was the one sung by the German officers at the table in Rick's Bar in the film Casablanca. As you may recall, the Paul Henreid character then asked the pianist to play La Marseillaise (the French National Anthem), whereby Frenchmen in the bar all joined in to sing, drowning out the voices of the Germans. For those who have seen The Blue Max, the Wacht am Rhein was what the German military band was playing at the airfield before the George Peppard character tried out the new Fokker monoplane.

In connection with the Battle of the Bulge, "Wacht am Rhein" ("Watch by the Rhine"). was actually the code name for the Ardennes Offensive. It was believed that the name was perhaps chosen to trick the Allies, who undoubtedly would have heard about it from some source, into believing that the Germans were planning some defensive move, while in reality they were planning what turned out to be their last major offensive on the Western Front.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] paulet 19 years ago

"Die Wacht am Rhein" is especially provocative in the "Casablanca" context because the long-disputed region of Alsace-Lorraine lies West of the Rhine; annexed by Germany after 1871, reconquered by France after 1918, it had now (along with the rest of France) fallen to the Germans once again, and singing that particular song in a café presumably full of supporters of the Free French would have amounted to deliberately rubbing it in.

[–] thebigjib 18 years ago

I get chills every time I see that scene in Casablanca. I think it's one of the greatest in film history.

[–] CmdrCody 15 years ago

"Watch on the Rhine" is sung by the German schoolboys in the beginning of the TV remake of "All Quiet on the Western Front, " starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine (listed in IMDb under Hallmark Hall of Fame.)

CmdrCody