The Obernkirchen Children's Choir 'The Happy Wanderer' 1953 78 rpm 

OMG my mom was a part of this choir,. Right after the war she was an orphan in a children's home close to the church. Every Saturday the girls would line up and wait to see if their parents had found them. She was repatriated with her mom and dad on the 17th Saturday, but in the mean time started singing with this choir, When they made this recording she came back to sing.

I was impressed children's cheerful and refreshing singing voices. Although I am Japanese, I learned this song at music class when I was in elementary school in the old days. The lyrics was expressed in Japanese, but I became to love this song. I felt that I wanted to walk in the beautiful nature singing it to myself. The song is familiar to Japanese. I thank to upload this magnificent song on RU-vid.

I went to see them perform In my hometown in England about 1954. They were wonderful. I still have the programme

We were a remarkable nation then. Within a very few years of the end of WW2, a song in German , a marching song at that,- was in the Hit Parade.

thank you,,, i am nearing 70,,, i remember this song very well and listened to it regularly on BBC Radio,, Uncle Mac,,,, Children's Favourites every Saturday morning in the early 50's,,,, oh to be able to wind back the clock,,,,,,,,

My mother used to play this record over and over again during my early childhood years, this exact recording, Thankyou for posting it! It brought back precious memories, when I used to think that there were real people inside the record player singing it! That was more than 50 years ago! Of course, I did not understand how the sound was reproduced back then!

The soundtrack of the fifties for every English coach trip. Angels with pigtails as Dylan Thomas described them. They performed this at The Welsh National Eisteddfod. The choir is still going strong, although very few Germans know of this song, a song that became second nature to sing on every journey.

My dad was captured at Monte Casino and brought to England as a prisoner of war. He became an English National Citizen (is that the correct title for naturalisation?) and never went home. This recording was played frequently on the radio and, always, Dad went very quiet and still. Occasionally, I could see his eyes well up but he never said anything. Makes me wonder what war does to people.

Wonderful - many thanks for posting the recording. I remember this song from my early childhood (I'm 70) and still have the 78 rpm record. My godfather Karl Fauser from Ludwigsburg was a p.o.w. who became a good family friend. Karl and I remained very close until he died aged almost 90 and I'm still in touch with his grandchildren. Ich spreche immer noch Deutsch - und fliessend Schwäbisch!

I was there too at the eisteddfod and heard them sing The Happy Wanderer. - I was about the same age & thought they were amazing. Dylan Thomas described them as the Pigtail Angels ...... :)

I had this record (album) when I was a little girl in Texas. Listened to it ALL the time!

During national service our drill seargent made us sing this song on route marches HAPPY memories l am 80 now

I took my Grandmother to Switzerland this year, because she hadn't been since she was sixteen in 1954. She recalled a choir singing this as they got off the coach on arrival. When she returned to Britain it was in the charts! Since then it has always been a favourite of hers. Thanks for posting this, she has really enjoyed hearing it again.

MY MUM GLORIA REES USED TO SING THIS WHEN I WAS A CHILD . ❤ I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER IT. MISS THOSE DAYS 😢

It was originally written in German but has been translated into many languages. My "kids singing" playlist includes this song sung in Mandarin.

I LOVE this recording..my dad brought this record home from the Donnel Library in NYC when I was a kid!!

Oh thank you, I remember this song and the choir from my childhood, and it inspired me to join a choir! I still sing this song on the trail, as I was often hiking in the last few decades.

Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann und mir steckt´s auch im Blut D´rum wand´re ich froh so lang ich kann Und schwenke meinen Hut Faleri falera faleri falera ha ha ha ha ha ha Faleri falera und schwenke meinen Hut Das Wandern schafft stets frische Lust erhält das Herz gesund Frei atmet draußen meine Brust froh singet stets mein Mund Faleri falera faleri falera ha ha ha ha ha ha Faleri falera froh singet stets mein Mund Warum singt Dir das Vögelein so freudevoll sein Lied weil´s nimmer hockt Land aus Land ein durch and´re Fluren zieht Faleri falera faleri falera ha ha ha ha ha ha Faleri falera durch and´re Fluren zieht Was murmelt´s Bächlein dort und rauscht so lustig hin durch´s Rohr weil´s frei sich regt, mit Wonne lauscht ihm dein empfänglich Ohr Faleri falera faleri falera ha ha ha ha ha ha Faleri falera ihm dein empfänglich Ohr D´rum trag ich Ränzlein und den Stab weit in die Welt hinein und werde bis an´s kühle Grab ein Wanderbursche sein Faleri falera faleri falera ha ha ha ha ha ha Faleri falera ein Wanderbursche sein. Text: Friedrich Sigismund (1788-1857) und Edith Möller Musik: Die hier zum Download bereit stehenden Noten sind von Michael Anding . Dass Lied wurde mehrfach vertont, von Friedrich W. Möller , bzw. Michael Anding , Georg Federich , Otto Richter , Franz Abt , Ludwig Kageler u.a. u.a. in: Albvereins-Liederbuch (ca.1900 , Franz Abt ) - Berg Frei (1919) - Auf froher Wanderfahrt (ca. 1921) - Liederbuch des Thüringerwald-Vereins (1927) - Liederbuch der Fallschirmjäger (1983) -

Love this! Thanks! Happy wanderer was a favorite of mine as a child.

Nobody had these recordings, we certainly couldn't in the early '50s, but they could requested for the children's programme on the light programme on Saturday morning with Uncle Mac!

oh happy days this was played constantly in my home

An absolute gem from a bygone age, such refreshing singing from a group of youngish children, very popular on childrens hour with "Uncle Mac" on Saturday mornings in the 1950s, did they record very much after this?

I was there at Llangollen that day. not at the eisteddfod, but lining the route for the Queens visit, a young airman, barely 17 years old, standing proudly at attention, and presenting arms.

I remember this from when I was 6. It wasn't until I saw "Schindler's List" many years later, that I learned it is a German hiking song.

This always blesses my heart.

we learned this in school music class about 1960, along with "Au Clair de la Lune Mon Ami Pierrot" and my all-time favorite, "Asham was a Tooting Turk" "Asham's wife was just like you / so she learned to tootle too" etc. Good old days, sort of.

I first heard the Frank Weir version as a child on the car radio in the 1950s I loved it but had no copies of it and i did not hear it again until the 1970s. Now RU-vid has made it possible to hear it in many forms and renditions of people and choirs

I greatly love this song.

First heard this when I was thirteen. Stunning then and just as beautiful now.

Glad to join the oldies! This is one of my earliest songs I remember. I was born in Cologne 1951 and brought up in early years in Bad Honnef before coming back to England. I must say that I was never good at the German language though :-) It always was a very happy song.

Danke fur das classic. Thanks for this classic. Sorry for my bad German.

These little girls sure are wonderbar!

Lived near Bonn in the early 50's. This song so reminds me of childhood memories.

A sign of the solidarity of ordinary citizens of the world United. This song came to fame when it was performed at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod Peace and Harmony

Of the overseas tunes this, Davy Crockett and the Three Bells, was the most popular in England in the 1950's and this lovely song was very popular. Of cause it belongs to the period but is fondly remembered.

I remember when this was a hit.

That is a picture of the choir, wether it was taken of the actual choir on the recording or of a later group I don't know, glad you liked the video

Imagine this was the roadmarch 1955 in Trinidad and Tobago. I just trying to wrap my mind around that fact

If you can find their Christmas album, it's gorgeous - ethereal and lovely. Their versions of "Silent Night" and The Cherry Tree Carol are just angelic.

Beautiful!

Happy memories!-1954,I was about nine year old!

@tritonusgesang - Vielen dank, ich bin so froh, das sie genossen es weider gehor

Wonderful! Thanks for posting.

A wonderful song with different meanings. I think the Germans sang it to salute their "wandering fathers" aka German soldiers who never returned from war.

BEAUTIFUL

I wrote this song in an orphanage in Germany in 1949 and was first to sing it in 1950

Wikipedia says ""The Happy Wanderer" ... is a popular song by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller written shortly after World War II. It is often mistaken for a German folk song, but it is actually an original composition. His sister Edith Möller conducted a small amateur children's and youth choir in Schaumburg County, Northern Germany, internationally named Obernkirchen Children's Choir, in Germany named Schaumburger Märchensänger."

sounds so sweet

how I love the 'tics' of vinyl great one AL

Wonderful ! xxxxxxx

So cool 🆒😎

Viiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeelen Dank für die Veröffentlichung dieses wunderschönen Videos! - Es ist eine Erinnerung aus früheren Zeiten, meine Entdeckung des ersten wirklich guten deutschen Kinderchors. -

I love this song

Every Saturday morning on the Light Programme at 10am if I remember correctly Uncle Mac, played these timeless records, no on had a record player in the 50s, we certainly didn't

The actual song sung here is the original "Mein Vater War Ein Wandersmann" (my father was a wanderer)

Orginal Text of this Song : Friedrich Sigismund (1788-1857) und Edith Möller

Must have been a proud day and a great memory in this Diamond Jubilee year.

@Meanmanmartin2007 in german :D i'm a member of the choir today and we have to sing it so often!

When I was a kid we sang it on Boy Scout hikes. There was also a male chorus version in English that charted in the US; it might have been Frank Chacksfield's Orchestra & Chorus from Britain.

Great song! It captures the traditional German spirit of enjoying the great outdoors and having a free spirit. Reminds me of the "Wandervogel",or hiking groups,which were so popular in Deutschland before WW2. The Nazis too,when they came to power, tried to promote enjoyment of the outdoors with the various Hitler Youth groups.

wow an original old '78!

Vielen Dank, mein Freund

I have this exact same record but I've not been able to play it since the gramophone was thrown out ages ago. My mother came to England from Germany in 1929 and I recall this recording since I was a child of the early 50s.

Very popular in England when I was a child - nice

A favourite of my uncle. Dad said.

The very best work of Obernkirchen is not on RU-vid. It is called The Bremen Town Musicians - a telling in song of the Grimms' Fairy Tale by the same name - about a donkey, a dog, a cat and a cockerel. Go to iTunes to find it and play the 90 second preview from the 21 minute performance. You will hear that it is a masterpiece. (A two minute clip should be uploaded here.)

@lanzanut They have continued to record over the years though obviously the members change regularly. Information on the choir is scarce and mainly found on german websites.

@Meanmanmartin2007 it was originally written in German shortly after WWII by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller the brother of Edith Möller who conducted the choir

Wonderbar

@ferrarial Thanks for explaining

It is sad that they leave God out of the last stanza on some versions found on You Tube.

This record was taken up by fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the late 1940's and early 50's and played at many a match at molineux

Never stopped playing on the BBC requests progs, I was an ankle biter then.

“The Fast Show” did this song as a running gag through one of their shows( season 3, episode 2, I think). If you like this song, dig up that episode. It is *hysterical*!

Das liegt daran, daß es bei uns auf englisch nicht bekannt ist, sonder "Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann" der Titel ist. Heute - am 15.9.2012 - war es im Musikantenstadl bei Andy Borg. Zwei damalig junge Sängerinnen waren dort zu Gast und haben die Geschichte des Chroes erzählt. Sie waren überall auf der Welt und in den Charts in England stand es auf Platz 2. Im damals noch ungeliebten Deutschland hat es in aller Welt wieder ein besseres Bild für Deutschland abgegeben. Musik verbindet.

I wonder if you still hear choirs like this in Germany.

A fine romance

Wonderful songs. Where are they today? What did they do since 1953?????????

Dummkopf- these beautiful kinder are from Bavaria children of that horrible war and yet they sing so good. from Gerhard Brenner, Kempten.

😌😊💖💖💖💖💖💖👏🙏🏻

Warum kein deutscher Kommentar? Sowohl die Gruppe als auch das schöne Volkslied verdienen Bestnoten!!!

@jeffdarga1 It would be great if you could upload some of the songs

Where would we be without Tape & Dolby ?

The Sopranos brought me here 😊

Out of interest, was this song originally written in English or in German?

Bitte nie löschen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's, now, it's , us ,

Is the song about looking for their father??????/

the forerunner of the e s contest.

G force , blessed two / Tass loved ,again ☺️vvvvvv, be be beautiful

Ich bin bei den aktuellen Märchensängern :)

Das ist nicht die originale Melodie!!!!Sie ist von Karl Reinik!Die originale von Johann Michael Anding 3:01 ist eine andere und zählt zu den Thüringer Volksliedern.

"Westfälische Nachtigallen" - ohne "h"!

@ferrarial no the song was made before WW2. the german army often sung this song at there parties during the war.

If people only sang songs instead of going to battle wouldn't the world be a better place

How sweetly they sing, yet they must all have been old enough to have experienced the ugliness of WWII in their streets, right? Humans are resilient.

@lisbeth580 Thats really interesting stuff. I bet it gets a bit tiring after a while.

I feel like donning lederhosen. Yah, dos anyvon vant any sauerkraut vis der knackwurst?

Problem with jolly german songs they sound like they are marching into poland.

i know....this was the poor little austrians whose innocent music was hijacked by marauding german troops for marches like 'wenn die soldaten.' those heinies sure can sing!