nourished the Pan Slavonic movement — the suppression of minorities. If allowed to be left in peace with their own culture, they would stay as loyal citizens as ethnic Germans themselves, he argued. In accordance with the Romantic spirit, Sauerwein believed that poetry was rooted in popular tradition and that a fresh literature could be based on the minority languages. His own poetry and songs are based on this idea, and he came to be among the pioneers of Lithuanian and Sorbian literature with the epic poem "Nemunyciai" (The Memel People, 1894) and "Serbske stucki" (Sorbian Songs, 1877). His poem Lietuvninkais mes esam' gime ("As Lithuanians we are born", 1879) is still popular in Lithuania as a national hymn. During many years Sauerwein carried on his battle against what he termed German hyper-nationalism, and this battle was mainly fought from Norway — a country that became his second homeland. He felt unsafe in Germany and described his sojourns in Norway as an exile of his own choice. Moreover, in Norway, he had access to a free press and by the turn of the previous century, he was often given space in Norwegian publications to reports of the conditions in Lithuania and Lusatia. Out of the last thirty years of his life (1874–1904), Sauerwein spent 11 in Norway — mostly in Dovre, which he characterized as “my winter sanatorium and laboratory of mental effusions”, but he also stayed increasingly in the capital Christiania (Oslo). He was excited about the New Norwegian movement for language and nationality, where he saw common features with the Baltic and Slavonic cultural rising. He made this the theme of several articles and publications, both in Danish and Norwegian. Best known is his anthology of verse in the local dialect of Dovre — the first full volume in the idiom of the Gudbrandsdalen valley. Similarly, as in Lithuania and Lusatia, Sauerwein wanted to revive the folk song in Gudbrandsdalen and make it a foundation for new poetry. This was his foremost intention with the "" (Free Songs from the Mountain's Edge, 1885). The anthology is dedicated to the New Norwegian pioneer Ivar Aasen and it initiated a rich lyrical tradition in Gudbrandsdalen during the following decades. The message is revealed by its title: Free songs in a free language about and for a free people. The poet pays his tribute to the free Norwegian society and dare