Text is derived from a song entitled “Sitz ich in froher Zecher Kreise” (I Sit in the Happy Circle of Revelers), written in 1880 by Ludolf Waldmann. 

Landsknechte were feudal serfs used for military purposes by their masters.  These “soldiers” were often traded between landowners and were, in a sense, the equivalent of modern mercenaries, with the important difference that they were not free to choose their employer.