Ich hatt' einen Kameraden

"Der gute Kamerad" ("The Good Comrade"), also known by its incipit as "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" ("I had a comrade"), is a traditional German soldiers' lament. The lyrics were written by German poet Ludwig Uhland in 1809. Its immediate inspiration was the deployment of Badener troops against the Tyrolean Rebellion. In 1825, the composer Friedrich Silcher set it to music, based on the tune of a Swiss folk song and in honor of those who fell during the more recent Wars of Liberation against Napoleon Bonaparte.

For other uses, see Ich hatt' einen Kameraden (disambiguation).

The song is about the immediate experience of a soldier losing a buddy in combat, while completely detached from any political or nationalist ideology. As a result, its use has never been limited to any one particular faction and was sung or cited by representatives of all political backgrounds throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and was translated for use in numerous fighting forces, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese amongst others.

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