Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann Nielebock (17 April 1888 – 16 July 1954), known as Herms Niel, was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of military songs and marches.

Biography

Upon finishing school in 1902, Niel completed his apprenticeship with the

Genthin Genthin () is a town in Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Genthin is situated east of the Elbe river on the Elbe-Havel Canal, approx. northeast of Magdeburg and west of Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg. The m ...

choirmaster Adolf Büchner. In October 1906, he joined the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

and was admitted as a

trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

and

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Guard (''1. Garderegiment zu Fuss'') in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was

bandmaster A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band, usually a concert band, military band, brass band or a marching band. British Armed Forces In the British Army, bandmasters of the Royal Corps of Army Music now hold the rank of staff ...

of the 423rd German Infantry Regiment. In 1919, he was demobilized and worked as an official in the administration until 1927. That same year, he co-founded in Potsdam the ''Ritterschaftsorchester'' (the Knights' Orchestra), where he was composer and lyricist. After the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

seized power, Niel, in 1933, joined their

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

as member 2,171,788.Prieberg, Feed K. (2004) ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945'', CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel, p. 4,882 He became a ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

'' troop leader, before receiving a promotion to band leader of the ''

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the Economy of Nazi Germany, German economy, militarise the wo ...

'' (RAD) training establishment in Potsdam. During the period of National Socialism, he dedicated himself to composing marches and songs, which were popularized by the NSDAP and widely distributed on all fronts of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At the Nazi party rallies in Nuremberg he was the conductor of all RAD music bands. Niel also invented and designed a

fanfare trumpet A fanfare trumpet, also called a herald trumpet, is a brass instrument similar to but longer than a regular trumpet (tubing is the same length as a regular Bb trumpet but not wrapped), capable of playing specially composed fanfares. Its extra l ...

, known as the ''Herms Niel-Doppelfanfare'', in E and B flat, which was manufactured in 1938 by Ernst Hess Nachf, an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

factory in

Klingenthal Klingenthal is a town in the Vogtland region, in Saxony, south-eastern Germany. Geography Klingenthal is situated directly on the border with the Czech Republic opposite the Czech town of Kraslice. Klingenthal is 29 km southeast of Plauen, ...

. In 1941 he composed the score ''Sieg Heil Viktoria'' for the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

. During the postwar era, Niel lived in

Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2024, its population was 59,896 with 2,262 people who had registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is located on the river Ems ...

, where he died in 1954.

Works

* "Adlerlied" * "Antje, mein blondes Kind" * "Das Engellandlied" (1939), lyrics:

Hermann Löns Hermann Löns (29 August 1866 – 26 September 1914) was a German journalist and writer. He is most famous as "The Poet of the Heath" for his novels and poems celebrating the people and landscape of the North German moors, particularly the L ...

) * "Die ganze Kompanie" * "Du Schönste von Städtel, schwarzbraunes Mädeli * "Es blitzen die stählernen Schwingen" * " Erika (Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein)" (1938) * "Es geht ums Vaterland" * "Es ist so schön, Soldat zu sein, Rosemarie''" *" Es war ein Edelweiß" * "Edelweißmarsch" * "Fallschirmjägerlied" * "Fliegerkuss" * "Frühmorgens singt die Amsel" * "Gerda – Ursula – Marie" * "Hannelore Marschlied" * "Heut´ sind wir wieder unter uns" * "Heut’ stechen wir ins blaue Meer" * "Heute muß ich scheiden" * "Im Osten pfeift der Wind" * "In der Heimat steh’n auf Posten" * "Jawoll, das stimmt, jawoll" * "Kamerad, wir marschieren gen Westen" * "Liebchen adé (Annemarie-Polka)" (1934) * "Liebling, wenn ich traurig bin…" * "Marie - Mara - Maruschkaka!" * "Matrosenlied" * "Mein Bismarckland" * "Mit Mercedes Benz voran" * "Rosalinde" * "Rosemarie (Rosemarie, ich lieb' dich gar so sehr)" * "Ruck Zuck" * "Sieg Heil Viktoria" * "Stuka über Afrika" * "Unsere Flagge" * "Veronika - Marie" * "Waltraut ist ein schönes Mädchen" * "Wenn die Sonne scheint, Annemarie (Die Landpartie)" * "Tschingta, Tschingta, Bummtara"

References

External links

Brief biography of Herms Niel

Herms Niel in postcards

University of Osnabrück A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

List of songs
at Deutscheslied.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Niel, Herms 1888 births 1954 deaths 20th-century trombonists 20th-century German male musicians German composers German male composers German oboists German trombonists German military musicians German Army personnel of World War I German male oboists German male trombonists March musicians People from Jerichower Land Musicians from the Province of Saxony Prussian Army personnel Sturmabteilung personnel Reich Labour Service members German bandleaders