National Symbols: National Anthem

"Das Lied der Deutschen" ("The Song of the Germans")

Also Known As: "Das Deutschlandlied" ("The Song of Germany")

Date of Adoption: 1922

Music by: Joseph Haydn

Lyrics by: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben

Famed composer Joseph Haydn wrote the music that became "Das Deutschlandlied," also known as "Das Lied der Deutschen" ("The Song of the Germans"). Haydn created the score for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire. The lyrics date back to the liberal national movement of the nineteenth century when, in 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote "Das Lied der Deutschen" to Haydn's melody. The song became Germany's official anthem in 1922 during the Weimar Republic, which replaced the German monarchy.

Hoffmann's words were a clear call for a unified German state. The anthem's opening line, "Deutschland über alles" ("Germany above all"), was meant to convey that the most important goal of liberal revolutionaries should be to unify the separate states in which ethnic Germans lived at the time. In the lyrics, Hoffman used linguistic and cultural criteria to define the German nation's borders as stretching from the Meuse River in France to the Memel River in Lithuania and the Adige River in Northern Italy. The lyrics also called for justice and freedom, implying the creation of a modern democratic state, and these thoughts were considered so revolutionary at the time that Hoffman was forced into temporary exile.

As it turns out, "Das Deutschlandlied" did become a rallying cry during the wave of unrest that swept through German-speaking areas of Europe in 1848. However, the various German governments (the Third Reich, West Germany, The Federal Republic of Germany) all retained its use, although the lyrics were amended at different times. The current version is confined to the original composition's final verse, avoiding the first stanza's definition of the country's borders and the second stanza's "wine, women, and song" passages. During the Communist period from 1949 to 1990, the German Democratic Republic chose "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from the Ruins") as the national anthem of East Germany.

Lyrics in German

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! :|

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! :|

Third Stanza (Currently used as Germany's 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! :|

Lyrics in English

First Stanza
Germany, Germany above everything,
Above everything in the world,
When, for protection and defence, it always
takes a brotherly stand together.
From the Meuse to the Memel
From the Adige to the Belt,
|: Germany, Germany above everything,
Above everything in the world! :|

Second Stanza
German women, German loyalty,
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 (Currently used as Germany's National Anthem)
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! :|