Title: German Nursery Rhyme For Memorization

General Information about Item: 

• Nursery Rhyme
• Language: German
• Country of Origin: Germany
• Informant: Anna De Hostos
• Date Collected: 05/14/2020

Informant Data: 

• Anna De Hostos is a college student at Yale University. She went to school in San Francisco, California, but attended summer school in Germany. She is half German and half Puerto Rican.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: This German nursery rhyme is a very famous rhyme which teaches kids about the months of the year. Its purpose is to be a fun, entertaining rhyme that also can educate children.
• Social Context: This specific nursery rhyme was brought up after I had asked Anna what nursery rhymes she remembers from German summer school.

Item: 

• Die Jahresuhr: This nursery rhyme goes through the months of the year. While it is taught to children by parents and teachers, it has actually become more famous through song, which is where most people know it from about it nowadays. The actual song from Youtube is included in the Associated File/Transcript Section.
  • The Nursery Rhyme: Januar, Februar, März, April
    Die Jahresuhr steht niemals still
    Januar, Februar, März, April
    Die Jahresuhr steht niemals still
    Mai, Juni, Juli, August
    Weckt in uns allen die Lebenslust
    Mai, Juni, Juli, August
    Weckt in uns allen die Lebenslust
    September, Oktober, November, Dezember
    Und dann, und dann
    Fängt das Ganze schon wieder von vorne an
  • English Translation:
    January, February, March, April

    The Clock of the Year never stands still

    January, February, March, April

    The Clock of the Year never stands still
    May, June, July, August

    Wakes up in us the Mode for the Life

    May, June, July, August

    Wakes up in us the Mode for the Life
    September, October, November, December

    and then, and then

    The whole thing restarts

Associated File/Transcript: 

• Die Jahresuhr:

   

Collector’s Comments: I found this nursery rhyme extremely entertaining and somewhat soothing. It reminded me of songs that I learned in school when I was trying to remember the alphabet, numbers, math rules, or animals.

Collector’s Name: Kai Lord

Tags/Keyword:

• Nursery Rhymes
• Germany
• School