Songs of WW1: Germany - Alte Kameraden

Alte Kameraden ("Old Comrades"), was composed by Carl Teike in 1889 while he was serving as a military bandmember of the 123rd Grenadier-Regiment König Karls Regiment. When he approached his kapellmeister (band director) with this march, his superior officer told him to throw the music away because the regiment already had enough band music.

Carl Teike subsequently left the service and became a police officer. During his free time he continued to compose music. In 1895, a publisher bought this music for 25 marks. This march became an overnight success. It was so popular that it was even played in England during the coronation of King George VI in 1937.

For more information about World War I, please visit my site at: TheGreatWar.blog. I created this blog in support of a graphic novel I am making about WWI. To create images for this novel, I pose 1/6 scale action figures and 1/30th scale hand painted military miniatures which I add to digital images and virtual backgrounds. The opening titlepage illustration for this video as well as the siege howitzer and the German Stoßtruppen who are pictured trying to cut through barbed wire are all samples of my work.