Hans Parlow and his Pillaus Song

The symbols of Pillau were once the lighthouse and the monument to the Great Elector. The lighthouse has survived to this day, and the monument is also alive and well, although it now stands in a completely different city.

But the current Baltiysk was once famous for the “Pillau Song” – a poem by Hans Parlow, which became a kind of anthem to the city where the poet was born.

Hans Parlow's parents (Johannes "Hans" Parlow, 1856 - 1928) came from families in which the men were engaged in seafaring. Hans's father was also a sailor, and he himself, after completing his studies at the University of Königsberg, went to sea for several years. Hans's younger brother also became a sailor.

Later, Hans Parlow devoted himself to writing. His novels were somehow connected with the marine theme. In the late 1880s, Parlow moved to Spain. He died in Granada in 1828.

SEESTADT PILLAU Kurfuerst Denkmal anthem of the Pillau — The lighthouse, the monument to the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I, the Pillau coat of arms and Hans Parlow's "Pillauslied" - with this postcard you will have a virtually complete picture of the city. 1930s.

Well, and, actually, the poem itself, written by Parlov in 1925 and praising the sailor city of Pillau:

Es liegt eine Stadt
Am Baltischen Meer,
Die führt im Wappen
Den silbernen Stör.Ein Schwedenkönig
Hat sie gepflanzt,
ein Preußenkönig
hat sie verschanzt.

Bei Sturm aus Nordwest
Treibt der Bernstein herbei,
und auf ihren Dünenblüht
Seemannstreu.

Ihre Dächer sind rot,
ihre Linden sind grün,
und weiß sind die Möwen,
die über ihr ziehn.

Hoch auf dem Rathaus
Dreht sich der Stör,
und leuchtet hinaus
auf das Baltische Meer.

There is a beautiful city on the
shining Baltic Sea with a coat of arms - a sturgeon. It was built by the Swedish monarch, and was fortified by the king of Prussia.

The northwest
wind
drives amber like a wave
onto its shores,

dunes in the thorns
of a flower with a head
as blue as
the water in the Baltic Sea.

Red roofs
under the green of linden trees,
white seagulls
play with the waves,

a weather vane above the town hall,
a bracing wind,
and the endless
Baltic Sea.

(translated by Svetlana Danilova)

Pillau Hans Parlow — Postcard with a poem by Hans Parlow. 1930s.