Erika (song)

Erika (song)

Erika (or Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein) is a marching song of the German military. The song was composed by Herms Niel in the 1930s specifically for the Waffen-SS, but it soon came into usage by the Wehrmacht in general, especially the Heer and, to a lesser extent, the Kriegsmarine. The theme of the song is based on "Erika" being both a common German female first name and the name of the heather plant (German: Heide, Erika; Latin: Erica), of which the heather-yards are considered as a "symbol of German natural heritage". In itself, the song has no military themes, beyond the fact that the narrator (evidently a soldier, though this is not explicitly stated) is away from his beloved and recalls her when seeing the plant which has the same name.

The song has also become traditional by the highly prussianized Chilean Army. The Finnish Army had a Finnish translation version, Kaarina, of this song during the World War II. A version, with Afrikaans lyrics, was the anthem of the South African Air Force during the apartheid years.