Paul Warnke was editor-in-chief of the satirical magazine Kladderadatsch in 1914; on August 8, 1914, he declared that his magazine would refrain from any political satire and actively work for German victory. During the war, he published numerous poems in Kladderadatsch and published a collection of these poems in 1915.

This mournful poem appeared in an issue of the weekly magazine Wachtfeuer: deutsche Kunstblätter zum Krieg published by the Berlin Association of Visual Artists. In 1915, the magazine published an issue titled “Unseren deutschen Frauen” [To Our German Women] with a portrait of Empress Auguste Viktoria on the cover, which consisted of articles and images describing the sacrifices and contributions of German women on the home front. Warncke’s poem grapples with the grief of women whose male relatives have been killed in the war. Sisters, newlywed brides, wives, and mothers have lost their brothers, husbands, and sons in the war and suffer in deep, profound sorrow. The poem recognizes the suffering of women and emphasizes that not only the fallen men, but also the women who mourn them without ever complaining, should be honored as heroes.