August Christian Niemann

August Christian Heinrich Niemann (30 January 1761 – 21 May 1832) was a German forestry engineer and political economist. He is known as a composer and collector of student songs. Born in Altona, he studied law in Jena and Kiel. Serving as Hofmeister for a fellow student of noble background, he moved to the University of Göttingen in 1782. He returned to Kiel in 1783, where he received his PhD, and lectured on statistics and political science from 1785. His “academic songbook” (Akademisches Liederbuch), published in 1782, contained some of his own compositions. It was successful, a second volume being published in 1795. Niemann’s song Landesvater, Schutz und Rater became standard part of the Landesvater ceremony, a ritual pledge of friendship practiced by German academic fraternities. He was also the first to set German-language lyrics to the tune of “God Save the King”, in his “Heil, unserm Bunde Heil”, a patriotic song and early expression of Pan-German nationalism. This example would be imitated in various German patriotic songs and anthems during the 19th century, most notably in “Heil dir im Siegerkranz”, the royal anthem of Prussia and later the imperial anthem of the German