Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen

Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen is an interwar-era German marching song.

Composed around the 1920s, the lyrics of the song are sourced from the poem Ich bin der arme Konrad[1] by the Bavarian poet and artillery officer Heinrich von Reder (1824–1909).

The melody of the song is arranged by German songwriter and later National Socialist[2] Fritz Sotke (1902–1970) in 1919.

Geyer's Black Company was notorious with his contemporaries for their destruction of cathedrals, castles, and summary executions of clerics and noblemen.

The song's lyrics capitalise on this notoriety, with references to the actions of the Black Company: "Setzt aufs Klosterdach den Roten Hahn!"

[4] In the modern-day, Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen remains a popular song performed by various German music groups.

[5] Notably, the antepenultimate line of the song's final stanza ("Unsre Enkel fechten's besser aus") is inscribed on a memorial commemorating the 1525 German Peasants' War and the 1945 German Land Reform, in Osterhausen near Eisleben, Saxony-Anhalt.

Spieß voran, drauf und dran, Setzt aufs Klosterdach den roten Hahn!

Jetzt geht's auf Schloß, Abtei und Stift, Heia hoho!

Spieß voran, drauf und dran, Setzt aufs Klosterdach den roten Hahn!

Den Bundschuh führt er in der Fahn, Hat Helm und Harnisch an!

Spieß voran, drauf und dran, Setzt aufs Klosterdach den roten Hahn!

Bold Geyer's men their arrows shoot The knights are laid low His banner bears a peasant's boot To stamp out the foe