THE STORY OF THE NIGHT WATCHMAN IN GERMANY
My maternal grandmother, Ella Emma Louise Kolberg, was born on August 8, 1895 in Stevensville, Michigan to August Kolberg and Bertha Kramp. She was their 9th and final child. She and her mother were known to be close from family recollections and spent much time together.
On June 17, 1914 Ella married Joseph Kijak in St. Joseph, Michigan. She was just 7 weeks shy of her 19th birthday. On that birthday, August 8, 1914, Bertha Kramp Kolberg sent her daughter a birthday letter and poem which has been preserved complete with original envelope. It is unknown how much schooling Bertha had in her childhood in Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern, Germany but she was able to write this poem and letter in the old German script (Alte Deutsche Schrift) which according to translators was somewhat stilted yet has been translated as follows:
Dear daughter, Ella.
Dear daughter, remember me forever,
Dear daughter, remember me forever,
Forever I love you.
Someday, when I am gone, go to my grave,
Gently knock on the door,
Say: my Mama is resting here.
Write on the curbstone softly
This one I have often spoken of.
To remember your first birthday in the stand of matrimony
From your 'ever-loving you'
MAMA, BERTHA KOLBERG (sig)
Heartfelt greetings
And best wishes
August 8, 1914
The poem, that was also handwritten, contained 12 stanzas which loosely translated read as follows:
NIGHT WATCHMAN'S SONG
1. Listen to what I have to tell you:
Our bell struck one.
There is only one God in this world.
Everything be left up to him.
2. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck two.
Two roads man has before him.
Lord, lead me on the right one.
3. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck three.
Threefold is what is called godlike/
divine.
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
4. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck four.
Fourfold is the farmer's field.
Man, how about your heart?
5. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck five.
Five of the virgins were smart,
Five were deluded by deceit.
6. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck six.
Six times God created the world.
Then everything was done well.
7. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck seven.
Think of and remember the seven
words the Lord
spoke of on the cross.
8. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck eight.
God set free eight souls
When the Deluge (flood) happened.
9. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck nine.
Nine forgot their thanks and duty
(lepers).
Man, don't forget the blessing.
10. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck ten.
Ten Commandments teach well
how one should walk before the Lord.
11. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck eleven.
Eleven disciples/apostles were loyal.
Help, Lord, that there be no defection.
12. Listen to what I have to tell you.
Our bell struck twelve.
Twelve is the goal of time.
Man, think of eternity.
In the mid-1970's I took the German letter and poem to an elderly women from my church who had been born and educated in Germany. She translated the poem and letter, as written above, despite the fact that she was not familiar with "The Night Watchman's Song".
Now in the 21st century, with the aid of the Internet, I have learned that indeed there were night watchmen in Germany in the years before 1900. The night watchmen were responsible for the safety of the inhabitants of a village or town. They would make their rounds from eight in the evening until four in the morning singing the "hour song" which reminded the people who slumbered safe in their houses that they were taking care of them. Traditionally they would carry a horn to warn citizens of fire.
A version of the "Night Watchman's Song" that I found on the Internet shows the song/poem as follows:
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Eight, good sirs, has struck.
Eight souls alone from death were kept.
When God the earth with deluge swept:
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Nine, good sirs, has struck.
Nine lepers cleansed returned not;
Be not thy blessings, man, forgot!
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Ten, good sirs, has struck.
Ten precepts show God's holy will;
O, may we prove obedient still!
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour Eleven, good sirs, has struck.
Eleven apostles remained true;
May we be like that faithful few!
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Twelve, good sirs, has struck.
Twelve is of Time the boundary;
Man, think upon Eternity!
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of One, good sirs, has struck.
One God along reigns over all;
Naught can without his will befall:
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Two, good sirs, has struck.
Two ways to walk has man been given:
Teach me the right, - the path to heaven!
Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might,
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Three, good sirs, has struck.
Three Gods in one, exalted most.
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Unless the Lord to guard us deign.
Man wakes and watches all in vain.
Lord! Through thine all-prevailing might.
Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
Hark, while I sing! Our village clock
The hour of Four, good sirs, has struck.
Four seasons crown the farmer's care;
Thy heart with equal toil prepare!
Up, up! Awake, nor slumber on!
The morn approaches, night is gone!
Thank God, who by his power and might
Has watched and kept us through this night!
It is noted that there are no verses for hours 5, 6 or 7. This was explained as follows:
"The night watchman would begin his rounds at 8 pm and go through 4 am when he would stop until 8 pm the following night. Most people in those days were awake and up at 4 am and there was no need for the night watchman to be making his rounds until the following evening."
It was also noted that the version available today is similar in thought and sentiment to the version Bertha Kramp Kolberg penned to her daughter, Ella, in 1914. There obviously were 12 stanzas used in Pommern where Bertha was born and raised. Perhaps it was more of a religious song in that period and place within Germany.
In any event, Bertha was a devout Christian and a loyal and active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, Michigan. At the time of her death, just six months after writing this letter and poem to her daughter, a notice in the "Saturday Herald" of March 6, 1915 stated that at her funeral "the church was well filled with relatives and friends of the deceased who came to pay their last tribute to one who had been kind and good".
In the 24 years that I have been living back in my home town of St. Joseph, I frequently go to the grave of my great grandparents and I do knock on the gravestone to let my great grandmother know that I am thinking of her and honoring her request. I know very little about her life in Germany and in the US but I am grateful to have her letter and poem and to have a glimpse into the life she led.
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