Old songs and the young student generation. A report. For several years up to 1993, first- and second-semester students at the University of Lüneburg (average age 22) were asked to fill out a variety of written questionnaires on their attitude to the concept 'German folksong'. Using a list of 156 titles of well-known songs (including English songs), we established which they knew best, liked best or most disliked. Evidently the word Volkslied (folksong) bears negative connotations and calls forth aggressive responses when accompanied by deutsches (German), as a result of the history of the past 60 years; but students have a more positive attitude to particular songs. As long as singing is individual, private or takes place in small self-selected groups, it is linked with pleasant memories. As a mass phenomenon (e. g. on television) or in contexts of state control and supervision, it acquires a negative image. Examples are used to illustrate these tendencies.