Buy Rammstein song “Donaukinder” on Amazon
| Donauquell dein Aderlass | Donau Spring your bloodletting/bleeding |
| Wo Trost und Leid zerfließen | Where comfort and sorrow dissolve |
| Nichts Gutes liegt verborgen nass | Nothing good lies hidden, wet |
| In deinen feuchten Wiesen | in your damp meadows |
| Keiner weiss was hier geschah | No one knows what happened here |
| Die Fluten rostigrot | The floods (are) rusty red |
| Die Fische waren atemlos | The fishes were breathless |
| Und alle Schwämme tot | And all sponges dead |
| An den Ufern in den Wiesen | At the banks in the meadows |
| Die Tiere wurden krank | The animals became sick |
| Aus den Augen in den Fluss | Out of the eyes into the river |
| Triebabscheulicher Gestank | (the) stench (of) vile urge |
| Wo sind die Kinder | Where are the children? |
| Niemand weisst was hier geschehen | No one knows what happened here |
| Keiner hat etwas gesehen | Nobody saw anything |
| Wo sind die Kinder | Where are the children? |
| Niemand hat etwas gesehen | No one saw anything. |
| Mütter standen bald am Strom | Soon mothers stand at the stream |
| Und weinen eine Flut | And cry a flood |
| Auf die Felder durch die Leiche | On the fields through the dead body |
| Stieg das Leid in alle Teiche | The sorrow climbed into all ponds |
| Schwarze Fahnen auf der Stadt | Black flags on the city |
| Alle Ratten fett und satt | All rats fat and satisfied |
| Die Brummen giftig allerort | The poisonous humming everywhere |
| Und die Menschen soviel fort | And the people so far away |
| Wo sind die Kinder | Where are the children? |
| Niemand weisst was hier geschehen | No one knows what happened here |
| Keiner hat etwas gesehen | Nobody saw anything |
| Wo sind die Kinder | Where are the children? |
| Niemand hat etwas gesehen | No one saw anything. |
| Donauquell dein Aderlass | Donau Spring your bloodletting/bleeding |
| Wo Trost und Leid zerfließen | Where comfort and sorrow dissolve |
| Nichts Gutes liegt verborgen nass | Nothing good lies hidden, wet |
| In deinen feuchten Wiesen | in your damp meadows |
| Wo sind die Kinder | Where are the children? |
| Niemand weisst was hier geschehen | No one knows what happened here |
| Keiner hat etwas gesehen | Nobody saw anything |
| Wo sind die Kinder | Where are the children? |
| Niemand hat etwas gesehen | No one saw anything. |
| Lyric © Rammstein | Translation © Affenknecht.com |
Submitted by Dill
The song deals with an accident near Baia Mare, in Romania, which occurred on 30th Januar 2000.
Extremely heavy rainfall on 30 January caused a dam to breach, causing 100.000 m³ of water to flood a goldmine and carry with it app. 100 ton of heavy metals and sodium cyanide into the nearby river Donau (German name for the Danube). The poison was carried along the river, causing havoc in several countries; drinking water became poisoned, and people fled the rivers’ surroundings to escape the deadly poison, which quickly destroyed all life in and around the river itself.
Lots of children were obviously affected by this disaster, but the name ‘Donaukinder’ (‘Danube Children’) more probably refers metaphorically to the fish in the river, seen as the ‘children’ of the Danube/Donau; the fish obviously suffered most directly the full force of this disaster and the absence of fish in the river is the most obvious consequence of the disaster. Hence, the song rhetorically asks: ‘Wo sind die Kinder?’ (‘Where are the children?’). Furthermore, the German name for Baia Mare, where the breach occured, is ‘Frauenbach’, meaning ‘Woman-River’, which sustains the metaphor of comparing River/Fish to Mother/Children.
I don’t get this one either, but I’m 100% sure it’s not about a concentration camp in Donau.lolz
Mainly because there was no KZ in Donau, it was in Dachau.
secondly,there is no such place as Donau,it’s a river(Duna)
It’s amazing how some ppl can see the nazi theme in practically any lyrics,even if it’s so obviosuly unrelated.
You’ll never see anything nazi from them, it’s time you get over it.
It’s been quite a while since I posted but I think I should clear up the “nazi” thing that degenerated since my original post. I was thinking they had written the song about the event, in other words looking at it as a horrible event. NOT advocating it or any BS like that. As a matter of fact it seems to me that one person misunderstood my comment, then the rest of the people commenting on the nazi thing simply went off of newer posts than actually looking at my original comment. I don’t think they were trying to be pro nazi (IF this is what the song was about, personally I think the cyanide theory is more plausible) simply inspiried by the tragedy of an event. To draw an analogy is is like a singer from the southeast united states singing a song about the horrors of the mistreatment of slaves, or the japanese during WWII, etc.
Also to clarify the historical basis for my idea, I wasn’t refering to a concentration camp called Donube, but a town in Budapest where the nazis used the river for body disposal. They would line the people up where the river passed through town and shoot them, some would actually be knocked out of their shoes. I can’t remember the exact name of the town, but there is an interesting memorial there and the overall story of the town (the local police and some civilians at one point actually tried to revolt) was somewhat inspiring. Thus why I thought it pretained to the song. One would have to be an idiot to listen to this song and think it is about nazi sympathy.
Philip: Exactly! Everyone acts as if it was forbidden to speak about the horrors commited in the concentration camps, even if it’s said so softly and with such fellow feeling like in this song..
First off, I love this song. One of the best ballads ever.
In regard to the theories, all of them are plausible so it’d take an official statement to figure out which one is the correct interpretation.
Secondly, if this song is indeed about the concentration camp, then that doesn’t mean there’s a link between Rammstein and Nazis.
If these lyrics are indeed about the camp, then they would only express the sorrow of the victims and their families, and in no way could you even make a connection stating Rammstein has a fascist point of view.
I’ve recently started listening to Rammstein and in my opinion, their songs prior to 2006 were better than their newer ones. However, I really like this one.
On another note, I’m really enjoying the theories behind this song. Not a huge fan of the NAZI theories. It’s like saying a singer from the Southeasten US will only sing about slaves picking cotton and lynching. It’s an unfortunate part of our history that we’re trying to put behind us. I like Storm46 and Eldritch’s theories. The possibility of a connection with the flood from 30-01-00 sounds quite possible. We on the Gulf Coast are experiencing that massive oil leak as we speak. Funny how history repeats itself…
Niemand weisst was hier geschehen
Should read “Niemand weiss (weiß) was hier geschehen.”
Ok, I’m from Romania and I am aware of the accident at Baia Mare. Even if Baia Mare is not even near the Danube, it is on river Somes, which unites with Tisza and then Danube. Indeed, in 2000 a dam collapsed and a gold mine was flooded, which caused the destruction of Somes and Tisza. Tisza was declared a dead river and it took years to recover. This was a huge natural disaster, but now everything is quite ok.
This is another great song from Rammstein!
I have only recently started learning German, but I think ‘soviel’ on line 25 for which the correction ‘ziehen’ has been given by Cthulhu should actually be ‘zogen’ which is the 3rd person past tense of the verb ‘ziehen’.
One of my favourite things about Rammstein is probably the fact that they write about and sing about things in the world that no one, especially over here in lovely little Canada, would ever hear about.
I mean, sure, some of their songs are more serious than others (ex: comparing this song to “Pussy”), but they are always (or usually) a treat to listen to.
Yes, they are often just “shit happens” songs, but perhaps some of those situations hit home with them.
Perhaps they were inspired.
Inspiration is often key to song-writing, you know.
They just write about…. things.
That’s what makes them so epic.
Among all else, of course.
Frauenbach refers to “Rivulus Dominarum” the ancient latin name for Baia Mare. (Râul Doamnelor in romanian)
Hi guys, it`s great to read so many speculations on the Donaukinder, but to me the link posted by Lonely gives all the necessary explanations, just take your time and read it carefully.
And the issue I`d probably discuss first is… when R U going to correct this horrible translation, it`s a nuisance. I wouldn`t go so far to call it stupid, but it`s definitely a shameful one, especially after the “Call of the Cthulhu”.
Insight? That not precisly what happened…
yes cyanide was the cause and and the Danube was decimated.
Romanians caused it and it was an “accident” but they didn’t take the blame.And it was because the didn’t cared and followed regulations. I know because saw the “aftershock”, and smelled the rotting flesh of fish. It was terrible. We thought we never see fish in the Duna( Danube ) again.
I was really thrilled to read all the postings here, even more happy that it didn’t degenerate to swearings and such. Regarding rammstein and the nazi movement, i also belive that they don’t have the slightest involvement in lyrics regarding nazism, althou what is present, are the minds of people that bend the song ideas to their will. Anyway it would have been suicidal for the band to relate to the former nazi party, in a country with such a strict censorship such as Germany.
I’m no expert but I have studied the concentration camps in history classes, and as far as I know there were never one in Donau. There was however one in Dachau (Germany)and another in Dörnhau (Germany/Poland), because the names are somewhat similar I can imagine how they could get mixed up.
At first I was sure this must be about the pollution accident, but listening to it now I think that whoever brought up that it might be a metaphor for the Eastern communist governments may have been onto something.
The fish are all breathless- that is, the press is silenced. The animals become sick- as in, people starve and die of disease. “No one saw anything”… because those who did mysteriously vanished at the hands of the government.
Red has been considered the colour of communism since the revolts in Russia where Lenin took over. Official story is it’s to represent the blood the early rioters willingly bled at the hands of soldiers of the Tsar, but there is also a rumour that it became the colour of the revolution when a little girl started the trend of soldiers joining the rebellion they were sent to crush by handing a Cossack commander a red flower.
The last verse depicts the fall of communism and capitalist takeover which has been just as bad- black flags (as economic anarchy, allowing the corporations to do whatever they please) over a deserted city in which rats (businessmen) grow fat and prosperous on the suffering of others, and the poisonous humming of polluting factories.