"Shumi Maritsa" (, ) was the Bulgarian national anthem from 1886 until 1947. The music was derived from the German folk song "Wenn die Soldaten durch die Stadt marschieren" that was very popular in Bulgaria in the mid-19th century. The original text was written by Nikola Zhivkov, a head teacher in Veles (now in North Macedonia). The lyrics were edited many times, most notably in 1912 by the poet Ivan Vazov. The title refers to the Marica river. It literally translates to "Marica makes noise" but the connotation is closer to "Marica roars". History History of the melody On 1839 in Breslau (Wroclaw), the poet Alexander Kosmar created the satirical farce "The Pirates". Originally, the song was performed with entertainment and satirical sense in cabarets. It quickly gained popularity, and soon the melody of the song became the German song "Wenn die Soldaten durch die Stadt marschieren". The melody of the anthem was introduced to Bulgaria by Atanas Gratinski. He heard the song in the city of Shumen, when the Crocus Orchestra from Hungarian emigrants that settled in the city performed the German song "Wenn die Soldaten durch die Stadt marschiern" (When the soldiers march through the city). The melody inspired Gratinski to adjusts the song to the poem "Sunshine" that he made from 1855 until 1856 and taught the song to his students. The song become popular in Bulgaria. In the beginning of 1925, a competition for musical harmonization of the anthem was announced. The scientific archive of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences maintains 15 projects for the composition, some of which composed anonymously, while the other projects was composed by Georgi Atanasov, Ivan Kasabov, Nikola Yordanov, Dobri Hristov and other composers. In 1935 a project was made to merge Shumi Maritsa and the royal anthem of Bulgaria. The project was worked by Pancho Vladigerov and Menakhem Bensusan, but the whole project failed. However, after the project, the royal anthem of Bulgaria is performed after Shumi Maritsa without interruption. History of the lyrics Nikola Zhivkov created the lyrics of the song when he was among the Bulgarian volunteers who participated in the Serbian-Turkish war that broke out in 1876. He created the song because of his admiration to the personality and charisma of General Mikhail Chernyayev, who commands the Bulgarian volunteers. The song is composed by the title of "Chernyayev March". The melody of the song is inspired by