They sniffed everything, rummaged through
Shirts, pants and handkerchiefs, for hidden
Needle-point lace or for gems,
And for books that were forbidden.

You fools that search inside my trunk!
There’s nothing for you to find:
The contraband that travels with me,
Is hidden in my mind.

Needle-point lace is there, much finer
Than Brussels or Mecheln laces,
And once my needles are unpacked,
They’ll pick and scratch your faces!

And precious gems are there too,
The future era’s crown-jewels,
The temple-gems of the great Unknown,
The coming God of renewals.

And many books I carry in my head!
Let this be clearly stated:
My head is a twittering nest of books,
Of books to be confiscated.

Believe me, there could be nothing worse
In any library, not even of the Devil;
Hoffmann von Fallersleben himself
Never wrote anything more evil!

A passenger who stood by me,
Took the time to explain
That this was the Prussian “ Zollverein”,
The mighty customs chain.

The Zollverein, he explained,
Will be our people’s foundation;
It will change the divided fatherland
Into a united nation.

It will give us the external unity,
A unity that is real and material;
The Censor gives us the unity of spirit,
In reality, the most ideal.

He gives us internal unity,
Unity in thought and in feelings;
We need a united Germany to rule
Our outward and inward dealings.