Volkslied

Volkslied (literally: folk song) is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also included in this classification.

== History == The earliest songs in German appeared in the 12th century. Art songs were created by minstrels and meistersinger while cantastoria (Bänkelsänger) sang songs in public that were orally transmitted. Song collections were written from the late 15th century, such as Lochamer-Liederbuch and Glogauer Liederbuch. Georg Forster's Frische teutsche Liedlein was first printed in 1536.