'Drei Dezennin' (Three Decades) CD by Hâl

              German  Black Metal referencing Thirty Years War 1618- 1648 

        Painting of Magdeburg  by Jan van de Velde the Elder - Public Domain courtesy of Wikipedia 

Hâl, the project run by German language Black Metal vocalist/ multi instrumentalist Vandergrift, from Magdeburgh, has just released an impressive CD titled 'Drei Dezennin' ( Three Decades). Most tracks are related to  the Thirty Years 1618 - 1648. I have decided to focus on the fourth track 'Knecht und Magd' ('Servant and Maid')  about the 1631 Sack of Magdeburg, with some lyrics translated below. Black Metal seems the most appropriate channel to convey the sheer horror of the event. 

The Thirty Years Wars has not really grabbed the attention of British 17th century enthusiasts or the wider public. Have to admit that this blog, going since 2017, has only managed one post about the Thirty Years War ,which looked at the film 'The Last Valley' from 1971, directed by James Clavell. The famous line is uttered 'God died at Magdeburg' in said movie. 

 The Thirty Years War brought devastating misery to central Europe.As well as hundreds of thousands of combatants being killed or wounded, the civilian casualties -caught in the fighting, faced famine and plague- The conflict is often portrayed as a religious war between Catholic forces  keen to maintain the centuries old privileges of the Holy Roman Empire ( covering modern day Germany and Austria) fighting German, Swedish, Danish  Dutch, Protestants. However there are complexities involved.  There could be a stark  division between Calvinism and Lutherism amongst the anti-Catholic forces. There were also the French Catholics who were opposed to Imperial power, therefore being more inclined toward the Protestant side. 

 In 1631 heavily fortified Magdeburg in the River Elbe was held by Lutherans. The War was entering another active phase with the landing of a Swedish Army under the command of Gustav Adolphus in 1630. In March 1631, the Imperial forces and soldiers from the Catholic League gathered outside the City, realising that its capture could hinder the progress of the (Protestant)  Swedes from moving south. Mercenaries were present on both sides, also families of soldiers. Armies could not always survive on their own provisions, soldiers were left unpaid. Seizing and looting such a  wealthy city would be a remedy to this problem but inhabitants were likely to fight back with equal ferocity to save themselves, their homes and families, knowing what the cost of capitulation could be. 

The Catholic commander Tilly offered Magdeburg the chance to save itself  from  being plundered in exchange for money. The Town Council debated Tilly's proposal, but also had to weigh up the chance of Gustav Adolphus reaching and saving  them. His campaign had been quite successful, the City was well fortified and may well have held out longer. The civil authorities were still in discussion  on the morning of  20th May 1631, when the walls were breached and Imperial forces were inside the City. Desperate fighting began in streets and alleys. Rape, murder, and looting resulted. Some houses caught fire,possibly started to burn out defenders from their homes,  a few hours later prevailing winds ensured that a large number of dwellings were burning. 

Magdeburg had about 25,000-30,000 inhabitants in 1631. People from the surrounding area had also fled to the city so exact numbers are difficult to work out. As many as 20,000 died , either by being  butchered by the invading soldiers, or through plague and starvation that followed the resulting ruin of the City. To Catholics, Tilly was a heroic figure who had defeated heretics, to Protestants, the destruction of Magdeburg was further proof of Catholic cruelty.  A huge wave of printed tracts appeared across Europe, denouncing the atrocious treatment of the City's inhabitants. And the War staggered on for another Seventeen years. 

 'Maid and Servant' Translation of lyrics by Vandergrift  (extract)

Almost 13 years

After the incident in Bohemia

It was a servant

Who brought the maiden to the Emperor

The servant commanded the maiden

To take off her dress

And willing was her council

To spare needless sorrow

A hail of fire and iron awakes

For the servant did not trust their words

By this the maiden is brought to the wedding

To serve the Emperor again once and for all

With lance and sword are Violaters carrying

the bloody dowry through the gun powder smoke

Fire already licks the edges of the her dress

The Lion calls for the wedding dance

Rush!

For God and Emperor!

The "incident in Bohemia' was the incident in which Protestant nobles hurled three emissaries of the Emperor out of a window in Prague in 1618, the start of the Thirty Years War.  'The servant' is the Commander  Tilly, the 'maid' referred to is Magdeburg, the 'city of the Maid or Virgin. The 'wedding' was an ironic reference to the sack of the city. 

 I asked Vandergrift about the connection to Madgeburg via email.

Magdeburg is my hometown and I spent most of my life here so far. Back when I was a student I used to support a project where children were able to relive certain episodes of Magdeburg's medieval past for a couple of week during summer holidays. 

This project happened to be located in the courtyard of the museum you will link. For me personally I always used to be very interested in history in general and local history particularly. 

You can google "Megedeborch" for further info on that project.

It's also worth noting that Goethe wrote a poem about the sack of Magdeburg, most likely inspired by Schiller's book on the Thirty Years War from 1792. 

Hâl

Vandergrift can be reached on Instagram

'Drie Dezennin' CD is available to listen to on You Tube  and Spotify,  Digital version and CD available via Bandcamp 

Sources 

German History Documents Entry on the Siege of Magdeburg 

The Destruction of Magdeburg English translation of  Johan von Goethe's poem 

Cultural Historical Museum Magdeburg, webpage in English

Megdeborch  Magdeburg Living history webpage in English. 

Other 

The Last Valley   Blog page about the 1971 film set during 'The Thirty Years' that I wrote last year. 

Bleak Chesney Wold  New blog launched in February 2023- Charles Dickens/ 'dark' 19th century history. 

As ever wish to thank all visitors to this blog from so many different countries for their interest.

Michael Bully,

Brighton

23rd March 2023