Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen facts for kids
Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen is a popular German christmas carol. Its name means "Little Snowflake, White Little Skirt." The original words for this song were written by Hedwig Haberkern (1837–1901). She first shared the song in her book in 1869.
What the Song Says
The song "Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen" has beautiful words. It talks about a snowflake coming down from the clouds. The snowflake lives far away. The song asks the snowflake to come and sit by the window. It calls the snowflake a "lovely star." The snowflake paints flowers and leaves. The people in the song really like the snowflake.
The song also says the snowflake covers the little flowers. This helps them sleep safely through winter. Finally, the song invites the snowflake to come to the valley. Then, everyone can build a snowman and play with a ball.
German and English Words
Here are the words to the song in German and English:
Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen,
wann kommst du geschneit?
Du wohnst in den Wolken,
dein Weg ist so weit.
Komm setz dich ans Fenster,
du lieblicher Stern,
malst Blumen und Blätter,
wir haben dich gern.
Schneeflöckchen, du deckst uns
die Blümelein zu,
dann schlafen sie sicher
in himmlischer Ruh’.
Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen,
komm zu uns ins Tal.
Dann bau’n wir den Schneemann
und werfen den Ball.
Tiny Snowflake, little whitedress,
when are you coming snowed?
You live in the clouds
your way is so far
Come sit at the window
you lovely star
paint flowers and leaves,
we like you.
Tiny Snowflake, you cover us
the flowers,
then they sleep safely
in heavenly peace.
Tiny Snowflake, white little skirt,
come to us in the valley.
Then we'll build the snowman
and throw the ball
The song usually has four parts, called stanzas. Each stanza has four lines. The word "Weißröckchen" means "white little skirt." It is a special word for snowflake from a region called Silesia. In the original song, this word only appeared later in the lyrics.
How the Melody Goes
The song "Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen" has a well-known tune. You can see the musical notes for it here: <score sound="1"> \relative c' { \key c \major \time 3/4 { \partial 4 e8 f | g4 g a | d, d d8 e | f4 f g | e2 e8 f | g4 g c | b a g8 f | e4 f d | c2 \bar "|." }} \addlyrics { Schnee _ -- flöck -- chen, Weiß -- röck -- chen, wann _ kommst du ge -- schneit? Du _ wohnst in den Wol -- ken, dein _ Weg ist so weit. } </score>
The person who wrote the words, Hedwig Haberkern, wanted the song to be sung to a different tune. This tune was from a song called "Wir Kinder, wir haben der Freuden so viel." This older song's words were first printed in 1777. Even the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart set some of these words to music in 1791.
However, the melody we know today is different. No one knows for sure who wrote this common tune. It started appearing in song books around 1915. For a while, people sang "Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen" with several different melodies. But after World War II, the tune we use now became the most popular one.
