Deutschlandlied | History, Lyrics, Meaning, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

German:

“Song of Germany”

Deutschlandlied, official national anthem of Germany from 1922 to 1945, of West Germany from 1950 to 1990, and of reunified Germany from 1990.

The tune of the German national anthem was composed in 1796 by Austrian Joseph Haydn and was first performed in 1797 for the birthday of Holy Roman emperor Francis II; it was called “Kaiserhymne” (“Emperor’s Hymn”). Its first lines were “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Unsern guten Kaiser Franz!” (“God preserve Francis the Emperor, Our good Emperor Francis!”). Haydn further developed the theme in his string quartet known as the Emperor Quartet, Op. 76, No. 3. Although the lyrics changed with the names of the emperors, the tune remained in official use until Austria-Hungary collapsed in 1918.

Decades before that happened, however, the tune was adopted by nationalist poet and university professor August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben for use with a new set of lyrics that he wrote in August 1841, urging unity for the crazy quilt of German polities. Although Hoffmann’s song gained steadily in popularity, it did not gain official status until August 11, 1922, when the Weimar Republic adopted the song and its first verse as the German national anthem:

Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,
über alles in der Welt,
Wenn es stets zu Schutz und Trutze
brüderlich zusammen hält,
Von der Maas bis an die Memel,
von der Etsch bis an den [Little] Belt,
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,
über alles in der Welt!

Germany, Germany above all,
above all else in the world,
When it steadfastly holds together,
offensively and defensively,
with brotherhood.
From the Maas to the Memel,
from the Etsch to the [Little] Belt,
Germany, Germany above all,
above all else in the world.

It was retained as the anthem of Nazi Germany, along with the party anthem, the Horst Wessel Song. However, during the Nazi era those lyrics took on unfortunate connotations. What was originally intended in 1848 as a call to place the concept of a unified nation above regional differences—with geographic borders marking the extent to which culturally German settlers had spread—became reinterpreted as a justification for German expansionism and misinterpreted by some as a claim to German world hegemony. For this reason, it was banned for a while after World War II, but it was restored in 1951 by West Germany, using officially only the third verse:

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 rights and freedom
for the German fatherland.
Let us strive for it together,
brotherly with heart and hand.
Unity and rights and freedom
are the basis of good fortune.
Flower in the light of this good fortune,
flower German fatherland.

The song nevertheless remained a matter of controversy. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of the Berlin Wall, however, the reunification of Germany was effected in 1990, and in 1991 the third verse of the “Deutschlandlied” was declared the national anthem of the restored country.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.