Volk (German word)

In German, the word Volk may mean folk (simple people), people in the ethnic sense, and nation.

Volk is commonly used as the first, determining part (head) of compound nouns such as Volksentscheid (plebiscite, literally "decision of/by the people") or Völkerbund (League of Nations), or the car manufacturer Volkswagen (literally, "people's car").

19th century and early 20th century

A number of völkisch movements existed prior to World War I. Combining interest in folklore, ecology, occultism and romanticism with ethnic nationalism, their ideologies were a strong influence on the Nazi party, which itself was inspired by Adolf Hitler's membership of the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers' Party), even though Hitler in Mein Kampf himself denounced usage of the word völkisch as he considered it too vague as to carry any recognizable meaning due to former over-use. Today, the term völkisch is largely restricted to historical contexts describing the closing 19th century and early 20th century up to Hitler's seize of power in 1933, especially during the years of the Weimar Republic.

Volk (album)

Volk is the seventh studio album by Slovenian industrial group Laibach. The word Volk means "people" or "nation" in German and "wolf" in Slovene. The album is a collection of thirteen songs inspired by national or pan-national anthems, plus the anthem of the NSK State, a virtual state to which Laibach belong. The album is a collaboration with another Slovenian band Silence.

The album's liner notes credit Wikipedia as their source for information on the national anthems featured.

The anthem of the NSK is essentially the same arrangement as "The Great Seal", a song on their 1987 album Opus Dei. Like "The Great Seal", the words are based on Winston Churchill's famous "We shall fight on the beaches" speech.

The album cover has a double meaning. Its most apparent meaning (for English speakers) is the German word "volk", meaning "nation" or "people". This an allusion to the fascist flirtations of the album. The second meaning is the Slavic word for "wolf". The sheep represent the victims of the wolf.

Volk (disambiguation)

Volk or Volks may mean: