Das Lied der Deutschen
Encyclopedia
The "" has been used wholly or partially as the national anthem
of Germany
since 1922. The music was written by Joseph Haydn
in 1797 as an anthem for the birthday of the Austria
n Emperor Francis II
of the Holy Roman Empire
. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
wrote the lyrics of "Das Lied der Deutschen" to Haydn's melody, lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time.
The song is as well known by the opening words and refrain of the first stanza, "" (literally, "Germany, Germany above all"), but this has never been its title. The line "Germany, Germany above all" meant that the most important goal of the Vormärz
revolutionaries should be a unified Germany overcoming the perceived anti-liberal Kleinstaaterei
. Alongside the Flag of Germany
it was one of the symbols of the March Revolution of 1848
.
In order to endorse its republican and liberal tradition, the song was chosen for national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic
. West Germany
adopted the Deutschlandlied as its official national anthem in 1952 for similar reasons, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. Upon German reunification
in 1990, only the third stanza was confirmed as the national anthem.
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The melody of the Deutschlandlied was originally adapted by Joseph Haydn
in 1797 to provide music to the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
" ("God save Franz the Emperor") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka
. The song was a birthday anthem to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
of the House of Habsburg. The piece is Movement II (Poco adagio) of Opus 76 No. 3, a string quartet often called the "Emperor" or "Kaiser" quartet. The melody in this movement is also termed the "Emperor's Hymn." After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Francis continued to rule as Austrian Emperor. "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" became the official anthem of the emperor of the Austrian Empire
and the subsequent Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of the Austrian monarchy in 1918.
Haydn was instructed to compose an anthem which could rival in merit the English "God save the King". The words "God save Emperor Francis" were inspired by the English anthem, though not the melody, which is from the (Croatian) folk tradition. (A similar melody appears in Telemann.) The first line of the anthem changed with each new emperor until 1918. Austrian monarchists continued to use this anthem after 1918 in the hope of restoring the monarchy. The adoption of the hitherto Austrian anthem by Germany in 1922 was not opposed by Austria, as this helped the government in weakening the monarchist causes.
was already weak when the French Revolution
and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars
altered the political map of Central Europe
. Hopes for the Enlightenment
, human rights
, republican government, democracy
, and freedom after Napoleon's defeat in 1815 were dashed, however, when the Congress of Vienna
reinstated many monarchies
. In addition, with the Carlsbad Decrees
of 1819, Chancellor Prince Metternich
and his secret police enforced censorship
, mainly in universities, to keep a watch on the activities of professors and students, whom he held responsible for the spread of radical
liberal
ideas. Particularly since hardliners among the monarchs were the main adversaries, demands for freedom of the press
and other liberal rights were most often uttered in connection with the demand for a united Germany, even though many revolutionaries-to-be had different opinions whether a republic or a constitutional monarchy
would be the best solution for Germany
.
The German Confederation
or German Union (Deutscher Bund) was a loose confederation of thirty-five monarchical states and four republican (but hardly democratic) free cities, with a Federal Assembly
in Frankfurt
. They began to remove internal customs barriers during the Industrial Revolution, though, and the German Customs Union Zollverein
was formed among the majority of the states in 1834. In 1840 Hoffmann wrote a song about the Zollverein, also to Haydn's melody, in which he praised the free trade of German goods which brought Germans and Germany closer.
After the March Revolution of 1848, the German Confederation
handed over its authority to the Frankfurt Parliament
, and Eastern Prussia joined the Confederation. For a short period in the late 1840s, Germany was united with Hoffman's borders, with a democratic constitution in the make, and with the black-red-gold flag to represent it. The two big monarchies put an end to this, and waged the Austro-Prussian War
against each other.
August Heinrich Hoffmann
(who called himself von Fallersleben
after his home town to distinguish himself from others with the same common name of "Hoffmann") wrote the text in 1841 on vacation on the North Sea
island Heligoland
, then a possession of the United Kingdom
.
Hoffmann von Fallersleben intended Das Lied der Deutschen to be sung to Haydn's tune, as the first publication of the poem included the music. The first line, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" (usually translated into English as "Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world"), was an appeal to the various German monarchs to give the creation of a united Germany a higher priority than the independence of their small states. In the third stanza, with a call for "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (unity and justice and freedom), Hoffmann expressed his desire for a united and free Germany where the rule of law
, not monarchical arbitrariness, would prevail.
In the era after the Congress of Vienna
, which was influenced by Prince Metternich and his secret police, Hoffmann's text had a distinctly revolutionary, and at the same time liberal, connotation, since the demand for a united Germany was most often made in connection with demands for freedom of press and other liberal rights. Its implication that loyalty to a larger Germany should replace loyalty to one's sovereign personally was in itself a revolutionary idea.
The year after he wrote Das Deutschlandlied, Hoffmann von Fallersleben lost his job as a librarian and professor in Breslau, Prussia because of this and other revolutionary works, and was forced into hiding until being pardoned after the revolutions of 1848
.
. Only the third verse is currently the Federal Republic of Germany's national anthem.
In 1841, when the text was written, the German Confederation
was not a unified state in the modern sense. It also included a few regions inhabited largely by non-German speakers, but excluded large areas inhabited primarily by German-speakers, like parts of Eastern Prussia. Hoffmann, who in his research had collected German writings and tales, based his definition of Germany on linguistic criteria: he described the approximate area where a majority of German speakers lived at the time, as encountered in his studies. 19th century nationalists generally relied on such linguistic criteria to determine the borders of the nation-state
s they desired. Thus, the borders mentioned in the first stanza loosely reflected the breadth of territory across which German speakers were spread at the time.
In the south and west, Hoffmann's definition of Germany coincided with the borders of the German Confederation as it existed then. Hoffmann went beyond the Confederation boundaries of 1841 in the north and in the east, as neither South Schleswig nor East Prussia (although both German-speaking) belonged to it at that time yet, but joined before 1866. Thus, when the German Empire
was finally founded in 1871, both were parts of the German Empire, whereas Luxemburg, Limburg, and Austria were not (see Kleindeutsche Lösung). Hoffmann picked only one marker in the south and, possibly to avoid confrontation, made no mention of other areas inhabited by German speakers, like Alsace, Switzerland, or the Eastern part of the Austrian Empire.
The song became very popular after the 1914 Battle of Langemarck during World War I
, when, supposedly, several German regiments, consisting mostly of students no older than 16, attacked the British lines singing the song, suffering heavy casualties. They are buried in the Langemark German war cemetery. The official report of the army embellished the event as one of young German soldiers heroically sacrificing their lives for the fatherland. In reality the untrained troops were sent out to attack the British trenches side by side and were mowed down by machine guns. This report, also known as the "Langemarck Myth", was printed on the first page in newspapers all over Germany. It is doubtful that the soldiers would have sung the song in the first place: carrying heavy equipment, they might have found it difficult to run at high speeds toward enemy lines while singing the very slow song. Nonetheless, the story was widely repeated, and Adolf Hitler
himself, who had "received his baptism by fire at Langemarck," claimed to have heard the song as machine gun fire killed his fellow soldiers.
The Deutschlandlied could not be adopted as an official national anthem, as its melody was in use as anthem (Kaiserhymne) by the Austrian Empire
until its demise in 1918. On 11 August 1922 President Friedrich Ebert
made the Deutschlandlied the official German national anthem, as one element of a complex political negotiation. In essence, the political right was granted the very nationalistic anthem, while the left had its way in the selection of the national colors (the right wanted red, black, and white, the colors of the Bismarckian empire; the left wanted red, black, and gold, the colors of the 19th century liberal revolutionaries). Considering the post-World War II
history of the anthem, it is worthwhile noting that Ebert already advocated using only the anthem's third stanza.
era, only the first stanza was used, followed by the SA
song "Horst-Wessel-Lied
".
After its founding in 1949, West Germany
did not have a national anthem for official events for some years despite the growing need for proper diplomatic procedures. Different songs were discussed or used, such as Ludwig van Beethoven
's Ode An die Freude
(Ode To Joy). Though the black, red and gold colours of the national flag had been incorporated into Article 22 of the (West) German constitution
, a national anthem was not specified. On 29 April 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
asked President Theodor Heuss
in a letter to accept Das Lied der Deutschen as the national anthem, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. President Heuss agreed to this on 2 May 1952. This exchange of letters was published in the Bulletin of the Federal Government. Since it was viewed as the traditional right of the president as head of state to set the symbols of the state, the Deutschlandlied thus became the national anthem.
Meanwhile, East Germany adopted its own national anthem, Auferstanden aus Ruinen
(Risen from the Ruins). As the lyrics of this anthem called for "Germany, united Fatherland", they were not sung anymore when the increasingly unrealistic idea of achieving a united communist Germany was dropped by the East German leadership in the 1970s, and a separate East German national identity was stressed instead. It is a legend that Auferstanden aus Ruinen was originally written to fit the same Haydn melody, but later got its own: The lyrics do not fit completely to the Haydn melody.
When West Germany
won the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final
in Bern, Switzerland
, the lyrics of the first stanza dominated when the crowd sang along to celebrate the surprise victory that was later dubbed Miracle of Bern.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, efforts were made by conservatives in Germany to reclaim all three stanzas for the anthem; the Christian Democratic Union
of Baden-Württemberg
, for instance, attempted twice (in 1985 and 1986) to make German high school students study all three stanzas, and in 1989 CDU politician Christian Wagner decreed that all high school students in Hesse
were to memorize the three stanzas.
On 7 March 1990, months before reunification
, the Constitutional Court declared only the third stanza of Hoffmann von Fallersleben's poem to be protected as a national anthem under criminal law; Section 90a of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch
) makes defamation of the national anthem a crime, but does not specify what the national anthem is.
In November 1991, President Richard von Weizsäcker
and Chancellor Helmut Kohl
agreed in an exchange of letters to declare the third stanza alone the national anthem of the enlarged republic. On official occasions, Haydn's music is used, and only the third stanza is supposed to be sung. For other uses, all stanzas may be performed. The opening line of the third stanza, Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit, ("Unity and justice and freedom") is widely considered to be the national motto of Germany, although it was never officially proclaimed as such. It appears on soldiers' belts, was engraved into the rim of former 5-Deutsche Mark coins, and is currently present on 2-Euro coins
minted in Germany.
, who called the grandiose claim in the first stanza ("Deutschland über alles") "die blödsinnigste Parole der Welt" ("the stupidest phrase in the world").
; the second stanza's toast to German women and wine are typical of this genre. The original Helgoland manuscript included a variant ending of the third stanza for such occasions:
In 1921, Albert Matthai wrote a stanza in reaction to Germany's losses in and after World War I
. This stanza was never used as a national anthem and was not part of the Deutschlandlied.
An alternate version called Kinderhymne (Children's Hymn) was written by Bertolt Brecht
shortly after his return from American exile to a war-ravaged, morally bankrupt and geographically smaller Germany at the end of World War II. It gained some currency after the 1990 unification of Germany, with a number of prominent Germans opting for his "antihymn" to be made official:
The German musician Nico
sometimes performed the national anthem at concerts and dedicated it to militant Andreas Baader
, leader of the Red Army Faction
. She included a version of Das Lied der Deutschen on her 1973 album The End.... In 2006, the Slovenian industrial band Laibach
incorporated Hoffmann's lyrics in a song titled "Germania", on the album Volk, which contains fourteen songs with adaptations of national anthems. Performing the song in Germany in 2009, the band cited the first stanza in the closing refrain, while on a video screen images were shown of a German city bombed during World War II.
In November 2009, the English singer Pete Doherty
caused a stir when, live on the Bayerischer Rundfunk
radio in Munich
, he sang the first stanza of the anthem; he was booed by the audience and after a few more songs the radio station pulled the plug on the show and the radio transmission.
In August 2011, at the Canoe Sprint
World Championships in Hungary, Anne Knorr and Debora Nich won gold for Germany in the 1000 metres K-2 women's final race. The organisers of the event caused outrage when they mistakenly played the first stanza of the anthem during the medal ceremony. In a subsequent television interview German national coach Rainer Kiessler said that he was appalled and could not accept what had happened.
In October 2011, on the American TV series Pan Am
, Colette (Karine Vanasse
), a French stewardess, is in West Berlin
when President Kennedy delivers his famous 1963 speech at the Berlin Wall
. Attending a party at the US Mission that evening, she sings the controversial first verse of the "Deutschlandlied" slowly and emotionally, embarrassing the diplomats who she believes have been too quick to forgive and forget the events of World War II. Colette had been orphaned at the age of three when her parents died in Buchenwald, where they were sent by the Nazis.
was aired to the amusement of the audience. It featured the African-American woman Verna Mae Bentley-Krause singing a self invented hymn in broken German, which quickly became a running gag in Stefan Raab
's TV show whenever an event of national importance was reported on. In subsequent sporting events organized by Stefan Raab (like the Wok racing
competition or the TV Total Stock Car Challenge) the re-recorded song “Ich liebe deutsche Land” (I love German country) is played in place of the "Deutschlandlied" and is announced as the national anthem of Germany. The song gained minor international publicity when it was sung in celebration to the victory of Lena Meyer-Landrut
at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest by the German delegation.
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
since 1922. The music was written by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
in 1797 as an anthem for the birthday of the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Emperor Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
' , who used Hoffmann von Fallersleben as his pen name, was a German poet. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", its third stanza now being the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.- Biography :Hoffmann was born in Fallersleben , Brunswick-Lüneburg,...
wrote the lyrics of "Das Lied der Deutschen" to Haydn's melody, lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time.
The song is as well known by the opening words and refrain of the first stanza, "" (literally, "Germany, Germany above all"), but this has never been its title. The line "Germany, Germany above all" meant that the most important goal of the Vormärz
Vormärz
' is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. Also known as the Age of Metternich, it was a period of Austrian and Prussian police states and vast censorship in response to calls for liberalism...
revolutionaries should be a unified Germany overcoming the perceived anti-liberal Kleinstaaterei
Kleinstaaterei
is a German word, mainly used for the political situation in Germany and neighbouring regions during the Holy Roman Empire and during the German Confederation...
. Alongside the Flag of Germany
Flag of Germany
The flag of Germany is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold....
it was one of the symbols of the March Revolution of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
.
In order to endorse its republican and liberal tradition, the song was chosen for national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
adopted the Deutschlandlied as its official national anthem in 1952 for similar reasons, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. Upon German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, only the third stanza was confirmed as the national anthem.
Melody
The melody of the Deutschlandlied was originally adapted by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
in 1797 to provide music to the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser was an anthem to Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. Lorenz Leopold Haschka wrote the lyrics, and Joseph Haydn composed the melody...
" ("God save Franz the Emperor") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka
Lorenz Leopold Haschka
Lorenz Leopold Haschka was an Austrian poet and author of the words to Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Austria's national anthem until 1918....
. The song was a birthday anthem to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
of the House of Habsburg. The piece is Movement II (Poco adagio) of Opus 76 No. 3, a string quartet often called the "Emperor" or "Kaiser" quartet. The melody in this movement is also termed the "Emperor's Hymn." After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Francis continued to rule as Austrian Emperor. "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" became the official anthem of the emperor of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
and the subsequent Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of the Austrian monarchy in 1918.
Haydn was instructed to compose an anthem which could rival in merit the English "God save the King". The words "God save Emperor Francis" were inspired by the English anthem, though not the melody, which is from the (Croatian) folk tradition. (A similar melody appears in Telemann.) The first line of the anthem changed with each new emperor until 1918. Austrian monarchists continued to use this anthem after 1918 in the hope of restoring the monarchy. The adoption of the hitherto Austrian anthem by Germany in 1922 was not opposed by Austria, as this helped the government in weakening the monarchist causes.
Historical background
The Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
was already weak when the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
altered the political map of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. Hopes for the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, republican government, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, and freedom after Napoleon's defeat in 1815 were dashed, however, when the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
reinstated many monarchies
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. In addition, with the Carlsbad Decrees
Carlsbad Decrees
The Carlsbad Decrees were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Bohemia...
of 1819, Chancellor Prince Metternich
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era...
and his secret police enforced censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, mainly in universities, to keep a watch on the activities of professors and students, whom he held responsible for the spread of radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
ideas. Particularly since hardliners among the monarchs were the main adversaries, demands for freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
and other liberal rights were most often uttered in connection with the demand for a united Germany, even though many revolutionaries-to-be had different opinions whether a republic or a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
would be the best solution for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
The German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
or German Union (Deutscher Bund) was a loose confederation of thirty-five monarchical states and four republican (but hardly democratic) free cities, with a Federal Assembly
Bundesversammlung (German Confederation)
The Federal Assembly was the only central institution of the German Confederation from 1815 until 1848, and from 1850 until 1866. The Federal Assembly had its seat in the palais Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. They began to remove internal customs barriers during the Industrial Revolution, though, and the German Customs Union Zollverein
Zollverein
thumb|upright=1.2|The German Zollverein 1834–1919blue = Prussia in 1834 grey= Included region until 1866yellow= Excluded after 1866red = Borders of the German Union of 1828 pink= Relevant others until 1834...
was formed among the majority of the states in 1834. In 1840 Hoffmann wrote a song about the Zollverein, also to Haydn's melody, in which he praised the free trade of German goods which brought Germans and Germany closer.
After the March Revolution of 1848, the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
handed over its authority to the Frankfurt Parliament
Frankfurt Parliament
The Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...
, and Eastern Prussia joined the Confederation. For a short period in the late 1840s, Germany was united with Hoffman's borders, with a democratic constitution in the make, and with the black-red-gold flag to represent it. The two big monarchies put an end to this, and waged the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
against each other.
Hoffmann's lyrics
August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
' , who used Hoffmann von Fallersleben as his pen name, was a German poet. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", its third stanza now being the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.- Biography :Hoffmann was born in Fallersleben , Brunswick-Lüneburg,...
(who called himself von Fallersleben
Fallersleben
Fallersleben is a district in the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of 11,269 . The village of Fallersleben was first mentioned in 942 under the name of Valareslebo. Fallersleben became a city in 1929, and was incorporated into Wolfsburg in 1972. Before 1972, it belonged...
after his home town to distinguish himself from others with the same common name of "Hoffmann") wrote the text in 1841 on vacation on the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
island Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
, then a possession of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Hoffmann von Fallersleben intended Das Lied der Deutschen to be sung to Haydn's tune, as the first publication of the poem included the music. The first line, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" (usually translated into English as "Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world"), was an appeal to the various German monarchs to give the creation of a united Germany a higher priority than the independence of their small states. In the third stanza, with a call for "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (unity and justice and freedom), Hoffmann expressed his desire for a united and free Germany where the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
, not monarchical arbitrariness, would prevail.
In the era after the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, which was influenced by Prince Metternich and his secret police, Hoffmann's text had a distinctly revolutionary, and at the same time liberal, connotation, since the demand for a united Germany was most often made in connection with demands for freedom of press and other liberal rights. Its implication that loyalty to a larger Germany should replace loyalty to one's sovereign personally was in itself a revolutionary idea.
The year after he wrote Das Deutschlandlied, Hoffmann von Fallersleben lost his job as a librarian and professor in Breslau, Prussia because of this and other revolutionary works, and was forced into hiding until being pardoned after the revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
.
Lyrics and translation
The following provides the lyrics of the "Lied der Deutschen" as written by Hoffmann von FallerslebenAugust Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
' , who used Hoffmann von Fallersleben as his pen name, was a German poet. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", its third stanza now being the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.- Biography :Hoffmann was born in Fallersleben , Brunswick-Lüneburg,...
. Only the third verse is currently the Federal Republic of Germany's national anthem.
| Deutschlandlied | |
|---|---|
| German lyrics | Approximate translation |
| First stanza | |
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, Über alles in der Welt, Wenn es stets zu Schutz und Trutze Brüderlich zusammenhält. Von der Maas bis an die Memel, Von der Etsch bis an den Belt, >: Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, Über alles in der Welt! :| |
Germany, Germany above everything, Above everything in the world, When, for protection and defence, it always takes a brotherly stand together. From the Meuse Meuse River The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea... to the Memel Neman River Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches... , From the Adige Adige The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with .... to the Belt Little Belt The Little Belt is a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.The belt is about 50 km long and 800m to 28 km wide, the maximum depth is approximately 75 m, and contains numerous small Danish islands.... , >: Germany, Germany above everything, Above everything in the world! :| |
| Second stanza | |
Deutsche Frauen, deutsche Treue, Deutscher Wein und deutscher Sang Sollen in der Welt behalten Ihren alten schönen Klang, Und zu edler Tat begeistern Unser ganzes Leben lang. >: Deutsche Frauen, deutsche Treue, Deutscher Wein und deutscher Sang! :| |
German women, German loyalty Loyalty Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country, group, or cause There are many aspects to... , German wine and German song Shall retain in the world Their old beautiful chime And inspire us to noble deeds During all of our life. >: German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song! :| |
| Third stanza (Germany's current National Anthem) |
|
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit Für das deutsche Vaterland! Danach lasst uns alle streben Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand! Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit Sind des Glückes Unterpfand; >: Blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes, Blühe, deutsches Vaterland! :| |
Unity and justice and freedom For the German fatherland! For these let us all strive Brotherly with heart and hand! Unity and justice and freedom Are the pledge of fortune; >: Flourish in this fortune's blessing, Flourish, German fatherland! :| |
Geography
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
was not a unified state in the modern sense. It also included a few regions inhabited largely by non-German speakers, but excluded large areas inhabited primarily by German-speakers, like parts of Eastern Prussia. Hoffmann, who in his research had collected German writings and tales, based his definition of Germany on linguistic criteria: he described the approximate area where a majority of German speakers lived at the time, as encountered in his studies. 19th century nationalists generally relied on such linguistic criteria to determine the borders of the nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
s they desired. Thus, the borders mentioned in the first stanza loosely reflected the breadth of territory across which German speakers were spread at the time.
Von der Maas Meuse River The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea... bis an die Memel, Von der Etsch Adige The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with .... bis an den Belt Little Belt The Little Belt is a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.The belt is about 50 km long and 800m to 28 km wide, the maximum depth is approximately 75 m, and contains numerous small Danish islands.... . |
From the Meuse to the Memel, From the Adige to the Little Belt. |
- In the west, the river known as the Maas or the Meuse ran through the Dutch-ruled and Limburgish-speaking Duchy of LimburgLimburg (Netherlands)Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
which was joined to the German Confederation between September 5, 1839 and August 23, 1866. The modern German border is close to the river in that area. - In the east, the lower part of the Memel, known in other languages as the Neman, was located within East PrussiaEast PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, part of the Kingdom of PrussiaKingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, which actually stretched north beyond the river, and beyond the city of Memel (KlaipėdaKlaipedaKlaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
). In 1920, the area north of the river was detached from Germany and became known as Memelland. Only a few German speakers remained in the area after 1945. - In the south, the Adige river (German: Etsch) runs to the Adriatic SeaAdriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. In 1841, the Austrian EmpireAustrian EmpireThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
ruled all of its length, and much of the population of its area was German. Historically, the river was the southern border of the medieval Duchy of Carinthia, and centuries later it marked the border between Austrian Venetia and Napoleonic Italian RepublicItalian Republic (Napoleonic)The Italian Republic was a short-lived republic located in Northern Italy. It was a vassal state of the First French Republic of Napoleon.-The republic:...
; in the middle, it was divided among the Republic of VeniceRepublic of VeniceThe Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, the Bishopric of TrentBishopric of TrentThe Bishopric of Trent is a former ecclesiastical territory roughly corresponding to the present-day Northern Italian autonomous province of Trentino. It was created in 1027 and existed until 1802, when it was secularised and absorbed into the County of Tyrol held by the House of Habsburg...
and AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. After the 1866Austro-Prussian WarThe Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
, the river's southern part became part of ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, while the northern one remained part of part Austrian TirolTyrol (state)Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
; but it then became part of Italy too, after 1918World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Now, as then, the town of SalornoSalornoSalorno is the southernmost comune of the Überetsch-Unterland district in South Tyrol, in the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.-Geography:As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,160 and an area of 33.2 km²....
(German: Salurn), marks the linguistic border between the German and the Italian speaking population in the valley. - To the north, the strait known as the Little Belt (Danish: Lillebælt) ran alongside the ethnically mixed Danish Duchy of Schleswig, part of an area subject to a highly complex dispute, known as the Schleswig-Holstein QuestionSchleswig-Holstein QuestionThe Schleswig-Holstein Question was a complex of diplomatic and other issues arising in the 19th century from the relations of two duchies, Schleswig and Holstein , to the Danish crown and to the German Confederation....
, between Denmark and its neighbors. After wars in 1848 and 1864 the Danish-German border for some time ran through the strait, but ultimately, the Schleswig Plebiscite moved the border to its current location, south of the Little Belt.
In the south and west, Hoffmann's definition of Germany coincided with the borders of the German Confederation as it existed then. Hoffmann went beyond the Confederation boundaries of 1841 in the north and in the east, as neither South Schleswig nor East Prussia (although both German-speaking) belonged to it at that time yet, but joined before 1866. Thus, when the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
was finally founded in 1871, both were parts of the German Empire, whereas Luxemburg, Limburg, and Austria were not (see Kleindeutsche Lösung). Hoffmann picked only one marker in the south and, possibly to avoid confrontation, made no mention of other areas inhabited by German speakers, like Alsace, Switzerland, or the Eastern part of the Austrian Empire.
Use before the Second World War
Das Lied der Deutschen was not played at an official ceremony until Germany and the United Kingdom had agreed on the Helgoland-Zanzibar Treaty in 1890, when it appeared only appropriate to sing it at the ceremony on the now officially German island of Helgoland.The song became very popular after the 1914 Battle of Langemarck during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when, supposedly, several German regiments, consisting mostly of students no older than 16, attacked the British lines singing the song, suffering heavy casualties. They are buried in the Langemark German war cemetery. The official report of the army embellished the event as one of young German soldiers heroically sacrificing their lives for the fatherland. In reality the untrained troops were sent out to attack the British trenches side by side and were mowed down by machine guns. This report, also known as the "Langemarck Myth", was printed on the first page in newspapers all over Germany. It is doubtful that the soldiers would have sung the song in the first place: carrying heavy equipment, they might have found it difficult to run at high speeds toward enemy lines while singing the very slow song. Nonetheless, the story was widely repeated, and Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
himself, who had "received his baptism by fire at Langemarck," claimed to have heard the song as machine gun fire killed his fellow soldiers.
The Deutschlandlied could not be adopted as an official national anthem, as its melody was in use as anthem (Kaiserhymne) by the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
until its demise in 1918. On 11 August 1922 President Friedrich Ebert
Friedrich Ebert
Friedrich Ebert was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .When Ebert was elected as the leader of the SPD after the death of August Bebel, the party members of the SPD were deeply divided because of the party's support for World War I. Ebert supported the Burgfrieden and...
made the Deutschlandlied the official German national anthem, as one element of a complex political negotiation. In essence, the political right was granted the very nationalistic anthem, while the left had its way in the selection of the national colors (the right wanted red, black, and white, the colors of the Bismarckian empire; the left wanted red, black, and gold, the colors of the 19th century liberal revolutionaries). Considering the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
history of the anthem, it is worthwhile noting that Ebert already advocated using only the anthem's third stanza.
Use during Nazi rule
During the NaziNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
era, only the first stanza was used, followed by the SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
song "Horst-Wessel-Lied
Horst-Wessel-Lied
The Horst-Wessel-Lied , also known as Die Fahne hoch from its opening line, was the anthem of the Nazi Party from 1930 to 1945...
".
Use after World War II
In 1945, after the end of World War II, singing Das Lied der Deutschen and other symbols used by Nazi Germany were banned for some time by the Allies.After its founding in 1949, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
did not have a national anthem for official events for some years despite the growing need for proper diplomatic procedures. Different songs were discussed or used, such as Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Ode An die Freude
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
(Ode To Joy). Though the black, red and gold colours of the national flag had been incorporated into Article 22 of the (West) German constitution
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies of World War II on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May, as the constitution of those states of West Germany that were initially included...
, a national anthem was not specified. On 29 April 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
asked President Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss was a liberal German politician who served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II from 1949 to 1959...
in a letter to accept Das Lied der Deutschen as the national anthem, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. President Heuss agreed to this on 2 May 1952. This exchange of letters was published in the Bulletin of the Federal Government. Since it was viewed as the traditional right of the president as head of state to set the symbols of the state, the Deutschlandlied thus became the national anthem.
Meanwhile, East Germany adopted its own national anthem, Auferstanden aus Ruinen
Auferstanden aus Ruinen
' was the national anthem of East Germany during its existence from 1949 to 1990.-History:...
(Risen from the Ruins). As the lyrics of this anthem called for "Germany, united Fatherland", they were not sung anymore when the increasingly unrealistic idea of achieving a united communist Germany was dropped by the East German leadership in the 1970s, and a separate East German national identity was stressed instead. It is a legend that Auferstanden aus Ruinen was originally written to fit the same Haydn melody, but later got its own: The lyrics do not fit completely to the Haydn melody.
When West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
won the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final
1954 FIFA World Cup Final
- External links :* - fifa.com, FIFA, 2002.*...
in Bern, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the lyrics of the first stanza dominated when the crowd sang along to celebrate the surprise victory that was later dubbed Miracle of Bern.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, efforts were made by conservatives in Germany to reclaim all three stanzas for the anthem; the Christian Democratic Union
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, for instance, attempted twice (in 1985 and 1986) to make German high school students study all three stanzas, and in 1989 CDU politician Christian Wagner decreed that all high school students in Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
were to memorize the three stanzas.
On 7 March 1990, months before reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the Constitutional Court declared only the third stanza of Hoffmann von Fallersleben's poem to be protected as a national anthem under criminal law; Section 90a of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch
Strafgesetzbuch
Strafgesetzbuch is the German name for Penal Code and is abbreviated to StGB.- History :In Germany the Strafgesetzbuch goes back to the Penal Code of the German Empire passed in the year 1871 which was largely identical to the Penal Code of the North German Confederation.This Reichsstrafgesetzbuch ...
) makes defamation of the national anthem a crime, but does not specify what the national anthem is.
In November 1991, President Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker , known as Richard von Weizsäcker, is a German politician . He served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984, and as President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994...
and Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...
agreed in an exchange of letters to declare the third stanza alone the national anthem of the enlarged republic. On official occasions, Haydn's music is used, and only the third stanza is supposed to be sung. For other uses, all stanzas may be performed. The opening line of the third stanza, Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit, ("Unity and justice and freedom") is widely considered to be the national motto of Germany, although it was never officially proclaimed as such. It appears on soldiers' belts, was engraved into the rim of former 5-Deutsche Mark coins, and is currently present on 2-Euro coins
Euro coins
There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros . The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone has its own design on the obverse, which means that each coin has a variety of different...
minted in Germany.
Modern criticisms
Despite the text and tune of the song being remarkably peaceful compared to many other national anthems, the song has frequently been criticised for its generally nationalist theme, the geographic definition of Germany given in the first stanza, and the somewhat male chauvinist attitude in the second stanza. An early critic was Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
, who called the grandiose claim in the first stanza ("Deutschland über alles") "die blödsinnigste Parole der Welt" ("the stupidest phrase in the world").
Variants and additional or alternate stanzas
Hoffmann von Fallersleben also intended the text to be used as a drinking songDrinking song
A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music...
; the second stanza's toast to German women and wine are typical of this genre. The original Helgoland manuscript included a variant ending of the third stanza for such occasions:
| Alternate third stanza | |
|---|---|
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit Für das deutsche Vaterland! Danach lasst uns alle streben Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand! Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit Sind des Glückes Unterpfand; >: Stoßet an und ruft einstimmig, Hoch, das deutsche Vaterland. :| |
Unity and justice and freedom For the German fatherland; This let us all pursue, Brotherly with heart and hand. Unity and justice and freedom Are the pledge of fortune. >: Lift your glasses and shout together, Prosper, German fatherland. :| |
In 1921, Albert Matthai wrote a stanza in reaction to Germany's losses in and after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. This stanza was never used as a national anthem and was not part of the Deutschlandlied.
| Stanza by Matthai, 1921 | |
|---|---|
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles Und im Unglück nun erst recht. Nur im Unglück kann die Liebe Zeigen ob sie stark und echt. Und so soll es weiterklingen Von Geschlechte zu Geschlecht: >: Deutschland, Deutschland über alles Und im Unglück nun erst recht. :| |
Germany, Germany above everything, And in times of misfortune more than ever, Only through misfortune can love Show whether it's strong and true; And so shall the song continue From generation to generation >: Germany, Germany above everything, And in times of misfortune more than ever.:| |
An alternate version called Kinderhymne (Children's Hymn) was written by Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
shortly after his return from American exile to a war-ravaged, morally bankrupt and geographically smaller Germany at the end of World War II. It gained some currency after the 1990 unification of Germany, with a number of prominent Germans opting for his "antihymn" to be made official:
| Kinderhymne by Bertolt Brecht (tr. Michael E. Geisler) | |
|---|---|
Anmut sparet nicht noch Mühe Leidenschaft nicht noch Verstand Daß ein gutes Deutschland blühe Wie ein andres gutes Land. Daß die Völker nicht erbleichen Wie vor einer Räuberin Sondern ihre Hände reichen Uns wie andern Völkern hin. Und nicht über und nicht unter Andern Völkern wolln wir sein Von der See bis zu den Alpen Von der Oder bis zum Rhein. Und weil wir dies Land verbessern Lieben und beschirmen wir's Und das Liebste mag's uns scheinen So wie anderen Völkern ihr's. |
Grace spare not and spare no labour Passion nor intelligence That a decent German nation Flourish as do other lands. That the people give up flinching At the crimes which we evoke And hold out their hand in friendship As they do to other folk. Neither over or yet under Other peoples will we be From the Oder to the Rhineland From the Alps to the North Sea And because we'll make it better Let us guard and love our home Love it as our dearest country As the others love their own. |
Notable performances and covers
The Unitarian Universalist hymnbook published in 1993, "Singing the Living Tradition" (Beacon Press, Boston) contains two versions of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'Light of Ages and of Nations:' the second hymn (#190) is sung to the tune of the 'Emperor's Hymn'. Because of a common misconception that the tune is of Nazi origin, some parishioners have complained of being reminded of Holocaust associations, and this version is included with caution in some congregations.The German musician Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
sometimes performed the national anthem at concerts and dedicated it to militant Andreas Baader
Andreas Baader
Andreas Bernd Baader was one of the first leaders of the German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction, also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang.- Life :...
, leader of the Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
. She included a version of Das Lied der Deutschen on her 1973 album The End.... In 2006, the Slovenian industrial band Laibach
Laibach (band)
Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
incorporated Hoffmann's lyrics in a song titled "Germania", on the album Volk, which contains fourteen songs with adaptations of national anthems. Performing the song in Germany in 2009, the band cited the first stanza in the closing refrain, while on a video screen images were shown of a German city bombed during World War II.
In November 2009, the English singer Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
caused a stir when, live on the Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
radio in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, he sang the first stanza of the anthem; he was booed by the audience and after a few more songs the radio station pulled the plug on the show and the radio transmission.
In August 2011, at the Canoe Sprint
Canoe racing
This article discusses canoe sprint and canoe marathon, competitive forms of canoeing and kayaking on more or less flat water. Both sports are governed by the International Canoe Federation ....
World Championships in Hungary, Anne Knorr and Debora Nich won gold for Germany in the 1000 metres K-2 women's final race. The organisers of the event caused outrage when they mistakenly played the first stanza of the anthem during the medal ceremony. In a subsequent television interview German national coach Rainer Kiessler said that he was appalled and could not accept what had happened.
In October 2011, on the American TV series Pan Am
Pan Am (TV series)
Pan Am is an American period drama television series created by writer Jack Orman. Named for the iconic Pan American World Airways, the series focuses on the pilots and stewardesses of the airline as it operated in the early 1960s at the beginning of the commercial jet age.Sony licensed the rights...
, Colette (Karine Vanasse
Karine Vanasse
Karine Vanasse is a French Canadian actress. She currently appears in the role of Colette in the ABC TV series Pan Am. Vanasse is the daughter of council worker Conrad Vanasse and Renée Gamache, who was her manager at the beginning of her career.-Life and career:Vanasse was born in Drummondville,...
), a French stewardess, is in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
when President Kennedy delivers his famous 1963 speech at the Berlin Wall
Ich bin ein Berliner
"Ich bin ein Berliner" is a quotation from a June 26, 1963, speech by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. He was underlining the support of the United States for West Germany 22 months after the Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier to prevent movement...
. Attending a party at the US Mission that evening, she sings the controversial first verse of the "Deutschlandlied" slowly and emotionally, embarrassing the diplomats who she believes have been too quick to forgive and forget the events of World War II. Colette had been orphaned at the age of three when her parents died in Buchenwald, where they were sent by the Nazis.
Pop parody
An awkward submission to the German entertainment show TV TotalTV total
TV total is a German late-night television comedy talk show that has run since 8 March 1999 on ProSieben, and is currently aired at around 23:15 from Monday to Thursday....
was aired to the amusement of the audience. It featured the African-American woman Verna Mae Bentley-Krause singing a self invented hymn in broken German, which quickly became a running gag in Stefan Raab
Stefan Raab
Stefan Konrad Raab is a German entertainer, television host, comedian and musician. Raab began his television career hosting the comedy show Vivasion in 1993 and has been hosting the late-night comedy show TV total since 1999. He became well-known in 1994 after composing a hit single spoofing...
's TV show whenever an event of national importance was reported on. In subsequent sporting events organized by Stefan Raab (like the Wok racing
Wok racing
Wok racing has been developed by the German TV host and entertainer Stefan Raab: Modified Chinese woks are used to make timed runs down an Olympic bobsled track. There are competitions for one-person-woksleds and four-person-woksleds, the latter using four woks per sled.- History :Wok racing was...
competition or the TV Total Stock Car Challenge) the re-recorded song “Ich liebe deutsche Land” (I love German country) is played in place of the "Deutschlandlied" and is announced as the national anthem of Germany. The song gained minor international publicity when it was sung in celebration to the victory of Lena Meyer-Landrut
Lena Meyer-Landrut
Lena Meyer-Landrut , known professionally as Lena, is a German singer-songwriter. She represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, Norway, and won the contest with the song "Satellite"...
at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest by the German delegation.