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 Hermann Fiddickow - Fritze Bollmann Song - Brandenburg, Germany
N 52° 24.572 E 012° 33.665
33U E 334111 N 5809387
Brandenburg's unofficial anthem
Waymark Code: WM90M9
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 06/09/2010
Views: 15
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Fritze Bollmann was an original character of Brandenburg, an old town in the East of Germany. He lived from 1852 to 1901 and had a barber shop in the historic center of town. His short temper, his excessive consumption of alcohol and the frequent "Gone Fishing" sign in the window of his barber shop made him a constant target for mockery and practical jokes. In 1885, when word got around that drunken Bollmann, standing in his fishing boat, lost balance and fell head over heels into the lake, neighborhood kids quickly came up with a satirical song. Originally, the song only had four verses, but over the years it got longer and soon there were a lot of different versions in circulation. For the rest of his life, Bollmann successfully sued everybody trying to publish a printed version of the song, so it didn't become "official" until after his death.
In the early 1920s, local writer Hermann Fiddickow worked on a collection of town folklore and came across the song. Out of all the different adaptations, Fiddickow created a version with eight verses that has been the town's unofficial anthem for almost 100 years now.
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Fiddickow later also wrote a short novel called "The tragic-comic Brandenburg Barber" which was turned into a movie (Fritze Bollmann: Gone Fishing) in 1942.
Verse 1 of eight:
Fritze Bollmann wollte angeln und da fiel die Angel rin.
Fritze Bollmann wollt se langen, da fiel er hinterdrin.
Fritze Bollmann went fishing and lost his fishing pole.
Fritze Bollmann tried to grab it, but only followed it into the lake.
We don't want to bore an English speaking audience with eight verses of German Urban Poetry - you can read the original at the German Wikipedia site provided below.
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Here is the story, as told in the song: Fritze Bollmann went fishing and dropped his fishing pole. When he tried to grab it, he fell into the lake himself. He cried for help, but only the fishing pole was rescued - Bollmann drowned. When he came to Heaven, he told St. Peter that he was barber. St. Peter asked him to shave him, but Bollmann did such a bad job that St. Peter sent him back down to earth. Ever since, St. Peter has a full beard.
The Fritze Bollmann Fountain shown in the pictures was created in 1924. The fountain is surrounded by eight granite panels. Each panel is engraved with one of the eight verses of Fiddickow's version of the song. Originally, the fountain stood near the place where poor Bollmann fell into the lake. In 1981, when Brandenburg's historic center was turned into a pedestrian area, the fountain was moved to the center of town where now thousands of visitors every day can learn about the song and the tragic-comic person at its source.
Fritze Bollmann fountain surrounded by eight granite plates bearing all eight verses of the song.
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Address:
In front of Restaurant "Kaffeekännchen"
Hauptstraße 20
14776 Brandenburg
Germany
Website: [Web Link]
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