Hans Leip wrote the first three verses of the poem that would later become "Lili Marlene" when he was conscripted into the German army, before being sent to the Russian front. He published the poem with two extra verses in 1937 in his volume of poetry "Die kleine Hafenorgel" ("The Small Harbour Organ"). Norbert Schultze set the poem to music in 1938, after previous attempts by Leip himself and Rudolf Zink.
