Otto von Bismarck

The Anthem That Preceded the Nation In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Germany was not a unified country. It was a fragmented mosaic of independent kingdoms, duchies, and free cities, bound by a shared language but divided by political rivalries and regional loyalties. On a remote North Sea island in 1841, a poet sat down to write a song to define this non-existent fatherland. This song, Das Lied der Deutschen (The Song of the Germans), would eventually become the national anthem of a unified Germany. Its journey, however, is a turbulent story of political shifts, military trauma, and deep division. For many outside Germany, the anthem remains heavily misunderstood, associated with militarism and global domination. Its actual origins tell a very different story, rooted in the idealistic and liberal aspirations of nineteenth-century romanticism. The Austrian Tune Behind the German Words The majestic melody of Germany's national anthem actually began as an imperial tribute in neighboring Austria. In 1797, during the heights of the French Revolutionary Wars, the celebrated composer Joseph Haydn wanted to raise national morale in Vienna. Having recently visited London, where he witnessed crowds singing God Save the King, Haydn envied the British for having a song that unified the public in their love for their ruler. He wanted a similar unifying anthem for the Habsburg Empire. Haydn collaborated with poet Lorenz Leopold Haschka to create "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" (God Save Emperor Franz). First performed on the emperor's birthday in February 1797, the slow, stately hymn was adapted from an old Austrian folk tune. The melody was an instant classic. Renowned composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky later wrote variations on it. For decades, the tune remained strictly Austrian, an acoustic symbol of the Catholic, multi-ethnic Habsburg dynasty. It was not yet associated with the wider concept of a German nation. A Liberal Poet's Vision of Unity The transformation of the melody into a German anthem came through August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, an idealistic professor of German literature from Lower Saxony. Frustrated by the conservative reaction that crushed democratic aspirations after the Napoleonic Wars, Hoffmann von Fallersleben yearned for a united, liberal Germany that guaranteed freedom of the press and democratic rights. While vacationing on the British-controlled island of Heligoland in August 1841, he penned the lyrics to Das Lied der Deutschen, setting them to Haydn's famous tune. The first verse began with the now-infamous line: "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" (Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world). To modern ears, "über alles" sounds like a menacing claim to global supremacy. In 1841, however, it meant something entirely different. Because Germany did not exist, the line was a plea directed at regional monarchs and citizens to put aside their petty provincial rivalries and prioritize the collective ideal of a unified German nation. It was a progressive, liberal sentiment championed by students, poets, and forward-thinking intellectuals, not a militaristic battle cry. The first verse also outlined the geographical borders of this imagined fatherland, stretching "from the Maas to the Memel, from the Adige to the Belt." This vast outline of rivers and waterways simply mapped where German speakers lived, rather than a blueprint for territorial conquest. The Forgotten Verses and the German Identity The second verse of the song celebrated traditional German values, praising "German women, German loyalty, German wine, and German song." Over a century later, this verse would be deemed archaic and exclusionary, effectively objectifying women by grouping them alongside food and beverage. Meanwhile, the third verse focused on political ideals: "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (Unity and justice and freedom). This triad formed the core of the liberal dream—a unified state ruled by law and individual liberty. When the song was first performed by a choir in Hamburg in October 1841, it made very little impact. The Prussian authorities viewed Hoffmann von Fallersleben as a dangerous radical and stripped him of his professorship, sending him into exile. Blood, Iron, and Alternative Anthems When Germany was finally unified in 1871, it was not through the liberal, grassroots revolutions envisioned by the poets of 1848. Instead, the Prussian Minister President Otto von Bismarck forged the German Empire through a series of wars, establishing a conservative state dominated by Prussia. The new imperial regime rejected Das Lied der Deutschen, viewing it as a relic of the failed liberal movements of the 1840s. Prussia used its own anthem, "Heil dir im Siegerkranz" (Hail to Thee in the Victor's Crown), which shared the exact same melody as Britain's God Save the King. This led to awkward situations and was deeply unpopular outside of Prussia, particularly in southern kingdoms like Bavaria. Instead, the unofficial anthem of the Kaiser's Germany was Die Wacht am Rhein (The Watch on the Rhine). Written in 1840 during a period of intense anti-French sentiment, this combative, defensive song urged Germans to guard the Rhine against foreign invasion. It became a massive hit during the Franco-Prussian War, sung by soldiers marching to the front. Bismarck loved it, but the idealistic Song of the Deutschen was largely forgotten, gathering dust in a Hamburg publishing house. The Birth of a Legend Two key events revived the song and secured its place in the national consciousness. First, in 1890, Britain swapped Heligoland for German territory in East Africa. During the official ceremony marking the island's integration into the German Empire, organizers searched for a local song and discovered Hoffmann von Fallersleben's work. They played it to great acclaim, reviving public interest. The second turning point occurred in the autumn of 1914 during the First World War. German newspapers published a highly mythologized account of the Battle of Langemarck, claiming that columns of young student volunteers sang "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" as they charged into heavy British fire. This legendary tale of tragic, patriotic youth transformed the song into a sacred national symbol. The Weimar and Nazi Appropriations Following Germany's catastrophic defeat in World War I, the imperial system collapsed, and the democratic Weimar Republic was born. Plagued by political violence, hyperinflation, and the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles, Weimar's leaders struggled to find symbols of unity. In August 1922, the social-democratic President Friedrich Ebert officially designated Das Lied der Deutschen as the national anthem. Ebert hoped the song would appeal to both sides of a fractured country: the left appreciated its liberal, revolutionary origins, while the conservative right respected its wartime associations. He urged citizens to focus on the third verse—unity, justice, and freedom. However, the republic's stability was short-lived. When Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party seized power in 1933, they did not discard the anthem, but instead reinterpreted its lyrics to fit their racial ideology. The Nazis discarded the third verse entirely, ordering that only the first verse, "Deutschland über alles," be sung, transforming a plea for national unity into an assertion of global dominance. The Rise of the Co-Anthem The song of the Germans did not stand alone under Nazi rule. The regime paired it with the Horst Wessel Lied (The Horst Wessel Song), the official marching hymn of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA). Written by stormtrooper commander Horst Wessel, who was killed by communist paramilitaries in 1930, the song was turned into a martyr's anthem by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. By government decree, Germans had to perform the Nazi salute whenever either song was played, cementing their association with totalitarian rule. Following the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945, the Horst Wessel Lied was banned, and the national anthem fell into deep disgrace. The Cold War Divide and the Battle of the Hymns At the end of World War II, a defeated and divided Germany entered "Stunde Null" (Zero Hour). In 1949, the country split into two states: the capitalist West Germany and the communist East Germany. Both states faced the challenge of selecting new national symbols. In West Germany, the first Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, fought a bitter political battle to bring back Das Lied der Deutschen. Opponents argued the song was too tainted by Nazi crimes. For a time, West German official events had no national anthem at all. Organizers resorted to playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy or even carnival songs like the "Trizonesia song," a humorous ditty mocking the allied occupational zones. Adenauer eventually triumphed in 1952, reaching a compromise with President Theodor Heuss. The old anthem was restored, but with a strict rule: only the third verse, celebrating unity, justice, and freedom, would be sung at official functions. The first two verses remained un-sung, a convention that continues to this day. The Communist Counterpart In East Germany, the socialist regime took a different approach, commissioning a brand-new anthem in 1949 titled Auferstanden aus Ruinen (Risen from Ruins). Written by avant-garde poet Johannes Becher and set to a melody by Hanns Eisler, the song was a masterpiece of socialist-humanist art. Crucially, the anthem was designed to appeal to all of Germany, containing the lyric "Deutschland, einig Vaterland" (Germany, united fatherland). However, when East Germany's hopes of absorbing the West faded in the 1970s and the two nations were recognized as separate states by the United Nations, the lyric became an embarrassment. The East German authorities took the bizarre step of banning people from singing their own anthem. For the final two decades of the Cold War, the state-sponsored melody was played strictly as an instrumental piece. Reunification and the World Cup Legacy With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990, the battle over the anthem resumed. Intellectuals and left-wing politicians suggested a compromise, such as adopting the East German melody with the West German lyrics. Others advocated for a new anthem based on a poem by Bertolt Brecht called the "Kinderhymne" (Children's Hymn), which contained self-flagellating lyrics reflecting on the country's wartime crimes. Ultimately, Chancellor Helmut Kohl insisted on continuity. The third verse of the Weimar anthem—"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"—became the official national anthem of the reunited federal republic. For years, many Germans remained deeply uncomfortable with displays of national pride, and singing the anthem remained a sensitive issue. This changed during the 2006 World Cup, hosted by a reunited Germany. Millions of citizens waved flags and sang the third verse of the anthem with joyful, relaxed patriotism. It was a watershed moment, showing the world that Germany had finally reconciled with its symbols, transforming a song with a dark, complex history into a modern celebration of freedom and unity.