Das Lied der Deutschen
|
|
| This article is in need of attention. |
| Please improve (https://academickids.com:443/encyclopedia/index.php?title=Das_Lied_der_Deutschen&action=edit) this article. |
Das Lied der Deutschen ("The Song of the Germans") or Das Deutschlandlied ("The Song of Germany") has been used, wholly or partially, as the national anthem of Germany since 1922. Today, the third stanza is the unofficial anthem of the Federal Republic.
The music was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797, the words by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841 at Heligoland, then British.
Audio Sample
- Missing image
Audiobutton.png
Image:Audiobutton.png
German national anthem (5KB, MIDI) ("Das Lied der Deutschen")
| Contents |
History
Earlier German national anthems
At the beginning of the 19th century, Germany was not a unified country, and the various smaller nation states considered to be German each had their own anthem. The first pan-German anthem prior to 1866 was Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland ("What is the German's fatherland?"), with lyrics composed in 1813 by Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769-1860) and set to music by Gustav Reichardt (1797-1884) in 1825.
Following the unification of Germany in 1871, the Prussian anthem Heil dir im Siegerkranz — sung to the tune of the British anthem God Save the King — became the national anthem of Germany. Furthermore the anthem "Die Wacht am Rhein" ("The watch on the Rhine") was very popular as an inoffical national anthem in that time.
Tune
The tune of "Das Lied der Deutschen" was written by Haydn, but not as a national anthem; Haydn wrote it because he had been requested to provide music to the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" ("God preserve Francis the Emperor"), an anthem to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, and Archduke of Austria. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, "Gott erhalte..." came to be considered the unofficial national anthem of Austria.
For additional details on the tune and how it was composed, see "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser."
Text
Fallersleben evidently intended "Das Lied der Deutschen" to be sung to Haydn's tune, as the first publication of the poem included the music. It seems that the idea of using one country's national anthem to provide the tune for a patriotic song of a different country did not strike nineteenth century authors as strange, as other countries likewise borrowed tunes at the time for their patriotic songs, particularly the tune from Britain's God Save the King.
The poem was written at a time when Germany was still a motley collection of quarreling kingdoms and principalities. Fallersleben wanted to express his desire for a united, strong Germany. His poem is in three stanzas, of which the first begins Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, 'Germany, Germany above all'. The anthem is still known in most of the English-speaking world by its first line, even though only the third stanza constitutes the official anthem for reasons that are explained below.
In its historical context, the line "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" ("Germany, Germany above all, above anything in the world") can be understood as an appeal to the German sovereigns to put aside all other projects and concentrate their efforts on creating a united Germany. In Fallersleben's time, this text also had a distinctly revolutionary, liberal connotation, since the demand for a united Germany was most often uttered in connection with demands for freedom of press and other liberal rights (see The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states). It can also imply that loyalty to a larger Germany should replace loyalty to one's sovereign personally. This in itself is a revolutionary idea.
Das Lied der Deutschen was not played at an offical ceremony until Germany and Britain swapped the islands of Zanzibar and Heligoland in 1890, when it appeared only appropriate to sing it at the ceremony on Heligoland. It became very popular after the Battle of Langemark during World War I, when several German regiments consisting mostly of students no older than 16 attacked the British lines singing this song and suffered heavy casualties. The offical report of the army described the attack as one of young German soldiers heroically sacrificing their lives for the fatherland (in reality the untrained troops attacked the British lines side by side and were mowed down by machine guns).This report, also known as Langemark-myth, was printed on the first page in newspapers all over Germany.
After World War I, President Friedrich Ebert made all three stanzas the German national anthem on August 11, 1922.
In the light of German military aggression and nationalist furor during World War II, it was easy to infer a sinister intent behind the exhortation to a "Deutschland über Alles", and the words were so exploited in Allied propaganda. The song still rings with menace today in the ears of some. Many would agree that however valid the propagandists' interpretation may have been in regard to the Nazis, it does not reflect Fallersleben's original intentions.
In 1921, Albert Matthai wrote a fourth stanza, which was popular at that time, but not part of the official anthem. The text is also given below with an approximate translation. Today this stanza is largely forgotten.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, "Das Lied der Deutschen" was banned by the victors, and for a time West Germany simply did not have an official national anthem. Though the colours of the Bundesflagge (black-red-gold) were taken into Article 21 of the German constitution, the national anthem is not part of the constitution. On April 29, 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer asked President Theodor Heuss 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 May 2 1952, but the decision was never formalized. Thus, West Germany officially continued to have no national anthem, but used the third stanza at occasions where a national anthem was needed. The first two stanzas are not actually forbidden, but they are never sung on official occasions. Singing or using the first stanza may be perceived as an expression of right-wing political views. East Germany adopted its own national anthem, Auferstanden aus Ruinen, which was written to fit the same melody, but later got its own.
Following reunification, the constitutional court in March 1990 declared only the third stanza of Fallersleben's poem to be protected by criminal law. In November 1991, president Richard von Weizsäcker and chancellor Helmut Kohl agreed in an exchange of letters to declare the third stanza alone (still with Haydn's music) the national anthem of the reunited republic. However, this has not been formally ratified as a law yet.
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit ("unity and justice and freedom") from the third stanza is also the state's motto and is engraved into the rim of former 5-mark and current 2-euro coins minted in Germany; it also appears on soldiers' belts and in similar places.
Geography
Besides the degree of nationalism, the geography in the first stanza is now outdated and open to major criticism and misuse.
| Von der Maas bis an die Memel, | From the Meuse to the Neman, |
| von der Etsch bis an den Belt. | from the Adige to the Belt. |
In the early 1840s, when the text was written, there was no single German state and it was uncertain if there would ever be. Fallersleben outlines the Deutscher Bund or großdeutsche Lösung (greater Germany) including Austria (without Hungary), which more or less only existed from 1937 to 1945. Thus the southern border is the Adige (South Tyrol), nowadays Italy. To the north there's not as much difference to later real boundaries, but the Little Belt between Jutland and Funen is Danish territory now (see first and second war of Schleswig). In the north-west he names the Meuse, thus implying Dutch Limburg, Luxembourg and the eastern part of Belgium to be a part of Germany. Both Dutch Limburg and Luxembourg were members of the German Confederation. Further south he doesn't name the Rhine explicitly, avoiding a statement about Alsace. In the east East Prussia expanded far into the Baltic region with its border on the Neman, now in Lithuania.
Lyrics and translation
| German lyrics | Approximate translation |
|---|---|
| First stanza | |
|
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, |
Germany, Germany above all, |
| Second stanza | |
|
Deutsche Frauen, deutsche Treue, |
German women, German loyalty, |
| Third stanza | |
|
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit |
Unity and justice and freedom |
| Fourth stanza (1921) | |
|
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles |
Germany, Germany above all, |
External links
- Sound files and history (in German) from the German federal government (http://www.bundesregierung.de/Regierung/-,8394/Nationalhymne.htm)
- Site with lyrics and MP3s (http://www.geocities.com/liedderdeutschen/)
- MIDI sound file (http://ingeb.org/Lieder/deutsch2.mid)
- Sheet music (http://ingeb.org/images/deutschl.GIF)ar:نشيد وطني ألماني
cs:Německá hymna da:Das Lied der Deutschen de:Deutsche Nationalhymne et:Das Lied der Deutschen el:Το τραγούδι των Γερμανών es:Das Lied der Deutschen eo:La kanto de l' germanoj fr:Das Lied der Deutschen hr:Das Lied der Deutschen it:Das Lied der Deutschen hu:Német himnusz ms:Das Lied der Deutschen nl:Das Lied der Deutschen ja:ドイツの国歌 no:Das Lied der Deutschen pl:Hymn Niemiec pt:Hino nacional da Alemanha ro:Das Lied der Deutschen ru:Гимн Германии simple:Das Lied der Deutschen fi:Das Lied der Deutschen sv:Deutschlandlied vi:Das Lied der Deutschen zh:德意志之歌