Deutschlandlied

	German national anthem - Band of the 1st armoured division of the U.S. Army. U.S.
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Das Deutschlandlied (in Spanish, 'The song of Germany'), or Das Lied der Deutschen (in Spanish, 'The song of the Germans'), is the anthem a German national since 1922. His lyrics were written in August 1841 by the linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, who indirectly refers to the conflict with France over the territories along the Rhine, and introduces the idea of German unity. At the time, the text was considered revolutionary. Its author wrote it in such a way that it would fit the melody of the "Kaiserlied" ('The Emperor's Song') composed by Joseph Haydn in 1797, as the official anthem (Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser ) for the Roman-Germanic Emperor of the time, Francis II. It was released to the public for the first time on October 5, 1841 at the Jungfernstieg in Hamburg. However, for a long time it was just one song among many of the German nationalist movement.

The song did not become more important until World War I, when, in November 1914, the unconfirmed news spread that a group of young soldiers had sung the song during a battle in Belgium. The song was not officially declared the national anthem of Germany, with all three verses, until August 22, 1922, in the Weimar Republic, at the initiative of President Friedrich Ebert and in order to support its republican and liberal tradition.

Shortly after the defeat, a fourth stanza appeared, written by its author, Albert Matthai, under the impression of the Versailles peace treaties, which brought costly reparations for Germany. This stanza never became an integral part of the hymn. During the National Socialist period (1933-1945), only the first verse was sung, which begins with the line 'Germany, Germany above all'.

From 1945 there were debates about the role that this song would play in the future, which had lost its status as an anthem. Finally, in 1952, after an exchange of letters between President Theodor Heuss and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, it was decided that the song would once again become the national anthem, but that on official occasions only the third verse (' unity and justice and freedom for the German fatherland...'). After the reunification, in the year 1991, and having corresponded, on this occasion, the president Richard von Weizsäcker and the chancellor Helmut Kohl, the third stanza was officially declared the national anthem of Germany. The incipit "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" ('Unity and Justice and Freedom') is considered the unofficial national motto of Germany, and is inscribed on the buckles of the Bundeswehr, in addition to on his belt and the edges of some old German coins, such as the Reichsmark (imperial mark), as well as the current German two-euro coin.

It thus also replaced what had been the anthem of the German Democratic Republic since 1949, "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ('Risen from the Ruins').

The song is also well known for the incipit and chorus of the first verse, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (literally, 'Germany, Germany above all else'), but this has never been its title. The line of 'Germany, Germany above all else' it meant that the most important goal of the revolutionary Vormärz had to be a unified Germany in order to overcome the anti-liberal Kleinstaaterei perception. Together with the German Flag, it was one of the symbols of the March Revolution of 1848.

Hoffmann's text

August Heinrich Hoffmann (the von Fallersleben was added in reference to his hometown, to distinguish him from others, since the surname Hoffmann is very common) wrote the text on August 26, 1841 when he was on vacation on the island of Heligoland. The lyrics became known for their verse "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" (meaning in Spanish 'Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world'), which was a call to have a free and united Germany between the different kingdoms that shared a common language and culture, that is, a song against the monarchies opposed to unification and that is why it was so important as anthem and patriotic deed. In fact, the basic call of the verses is «Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit» ('Unity and justice and freedom'), which, in line with the liberalism propagated in the middle of the XIX century, harangued for a free Germany governed by the rule of law, not subject to a monarch and his arbitrariness.

Because of this, the song was considered one of the best texts to serve as a patriotic anthem, since it not only speaks of ideals, but also contains bold and very specific political requests. Given this, Hoffmann's lyrical text was branded as revolutionary in the very conservative German States of the time, since it was associated with political demands (such as freedom of the press and civil liberties) that the monarchs of that time considered unacceptable. Hence the implicit ideas, such as unifying the German kingdoms by replacing his various dynasties, caused Hoffmann von Fallersleben to lose his position as a university professor in Wroclaw.

Melody

The melody of la Deutschlandlied has its origins in the Holy Roman Empire. It was originally composed by Joseph Haydn in 1797 for the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" ('God save Emperor Francis') by Leopold Haschka. The song commemorates Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and, with the title of Francis I, Emperor of Austria, the only title he held after ordering the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.

Some parts of the melody had already been used by Haydn in 1766 in the Benedictus of the Missa cellensis (Hob. XXII:5) and in 1796 in the slow movement from the trumpet concerto (Hob. VIIe:1). He liked the final melody so much that he used it again, with variations, the same year in the second movement of the Kaiserquartett (Emperor Quartet; string quartet in C major Op. 76, No. 3; Second Movement Hob. III:77), which was first performed on September 28, 1797 in Eisenstadt.

Current situation

Currently, only the third stanza of the Deutschlandlied is officially considered Germany's national anthem. This has been determined since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany and was thus made official on two occasions: the first in 1952 by an exchange of correspondence between Federal President Theodor Heuss and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer; confirmation, in 1990 in an exchange of correspondence between Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor Helmut Kohl after unification with the German Democratic Republic.

Origins and history

The text arose in very specific circumstances, when there was no German state, but the territory was divided into numerous sets of city-states and provinces, which were slowly assimilated into the central government of Berlin until they became the Empire German in January 1871, under the protective wing of Prussia. It was under these circumstances that the German liberal revolutionaries, who advocated the unification of the various German states, formulated Das Deutschlandlied as the German national song in 1841. In fact, its author, von Fallersleben, tried to express a desire for national unity and patriotic exaltation among Germans, beyond the borders that the liberals of the time denounced as merely artificial, which explains the geographical references to places where there was a population of speaks German ("From the Meuse River to the Niemen River"); even so, von Fallersleben avoided in his first stanza mentioning German-speaking sites that obviously could not be considered politically part of the future unified German nation: Switzerland and the western regions of Austria are not mentioned.

The Deutschlandlied did not become the national anthem in 1871 with the creation of the German Empire, because although it was a patriotic song that celebrated the national union of the Teutons, it did not exalt the Hohenzollern dynasty nor to the figure of the kaiser (which was an unfavorable feature compared to other hymns of monarchies of that time, such as the Russian "God save the Tsar" and the British "God save the King»); for this reason, it continued to be a popular song but without official recognition.

After World War I this text, written 30 years before German unification, became the national anthem during the Weimar Republic. The first stanza “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles”, despite originally expressing simply a yearning for national unity across administrative and territorial divisions, had become associated with German imperialism and later, during the Third Reich, was interpreted in another way to glorify its openly expansionist policies, as well as to celebrate the Nazi thesis of racial supremacy.^{[citation needed]} Between 1933 and 1945, only the first stanza was sung and then the «Horst-Wessel-Lied», the anthem of the Nazi Party. After the war, in all fixed occupation zones in Germany the first stanza was banned for a while because of this association.

The Federal Republic of Germany adopted the Deutschlandlied as an anthem in 1949 semi-officially, and in 1952 effectively by government order. The first verse was still the best known by the public, but the geographical changes generated after the Second World War made it anachronistic as well as politically unacceptable for other countries; In addition, it was associated with Nazi propaganda, which also prevented official recognition of said stanza.

The second stanza was also not set as the official anthem, after some criticism for the great emphasis placed on "women" and "wine", considered unsuitable elements to exalt in a national anthem (in addition to the rejection of feminist groups to this stanza), and such an honor only fell on the third stanza. It should be noted that the first two stanzas are accepted by German Law, but are not considered part of the anthem for official ceremonies.

The three verses, especially the first «Deutschland, Deutschland über alles», are not sung as often in Germany as they were sung in patriotic moments (associated with the Nazi Regime), but rather out of memories of the unification of 1871 or the German Reunification. On that side it is well seen, but the far-right parties sing the three verses with a nationalism associated with fascism and National Socialism. The German Democratic Republic adopted another national anthem, the «Auferstanden aus Ruinen».

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