Erika | German WW2 marching song

«Erika (or Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein) is a marching song of the German military. The song was composed by Herms Niel in the 1930s, and it soon came into usage by the Wehrmacht, especially the Heer and, to a lesser extent, the Kriegsmarine. The theme of the song is based on «Erika» being both a common German female first name and the name of the heather plant (German: Heide, Erika; Latin: Erica), of which the heather-yards are considered as a «symbol of German natural heritage». In itself, the song has no military themes, beyond the fact that the narrator (evidently a soldier, though this is not explicitly stated) is away from his beloved and recalls her when seeing the plant which has the same name. The lyrics of the song were written by Niel, a German composer of marches. The exact year of the song's origin is not known; often the date is given as «about 1930,» a date that, however, has not been substantiated. The song was originally published in 1938 by the publishing firm Louis Ortel in Großburgwedel. It was a great success even before the start of World War II. (This information was quoted from there, though as it is a Wiki I don't expect a lot of it to be not so accurate. Tell me if you know what is accurate and what is not so I can give the most objective and true statement I can.) «Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for «fair use» for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching...