Hi oggie - coincidence:
At the Eurogathering two weeks ago fidjit sang "Gathering Corn" and was more than baffled when the Germans fell in with the chorus in German.
He also sang a version of the chorus in Norwegian, and told us that the song is also known in Romania, Moldavia, and other countries.
So I'm not so sure whether they are all translations of the German folksong. Maybe the song is common property of many languages.