“Watch on the Rhine” (est. March 1945)
by Charles (Chuck) Werner (1909-1997)
12 x 16 in., ink and crayon on textured paper
Coppola Collection

“Die Wacht am Rhein” (The Watch on the Rhine) is a German patriotic anthem. The song’s origins are rooted in the historical French–German enmity, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War.

This is the song that the Germans sing in Rick’s Café, in Casablanca, that riles up the French and gets Victor Lazlo to lead the Vichy crowd to singing, drowning out the Germans with a rousing version of La Marseillaise(which began as the “War Song for the Army of the Rhine”).

The song’s title was also used as the codename for the last great German offensive, in late 1944, known today as the Battle of the Bulge.

Throughout history, rivers have divided countries, territories, and armies. They have proved to be difficult obstacles, keeping invading troops at bay and keeping countries separated. Of course, rivers have also been lines to cross – the challenging obstacle to conquer in order to successfully gain more territory and crush the opposition.

Crossing the Rhine was a highly symbolic gesture during the end of WW2, and here one is (I think) depicting the Germanic War as it sees trouble on its Rhine horizon.

In order to successfully execute a river crossing, Operation Varsitywas developed. On the night of March 23, 1945, the Allied forces that had gathered along the Rhine launched their invasion.

General Patton, leading the crossing,  and showing his contempt for the enemy, made good on his pledge to “piss in the Rhine in a week,” which he did from a pontoon bridge in full view of his men and news cameras. To Allied supreme commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower he wrote: “I have just pissed into the Rhine River. For God’s sake send some gasoline.”