The German national anthem

Unity and right and freedom
For the German fatherland!
Let us all pursue this purpose
Fraternally with heart and hand!
Unity and right and freedom
Are the pledge of happiness;
|:Flourish in this blessing’s glory,
Flourish, German fatherland!:|

Since 1991, the German national anthem has officially consisted of the third verse of what is known as the Lied der Deutschen or the Deutschlandlied (Song of the Germans), which was written in 1841 by Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798-1874) on the island of Helgoland. The words of the Song of the Germans were written to the melody of the second movement of the Emperor Quartet by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809).

History of the German national anthem

The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany fails to mention a national anthem. As a result, following its founding in 1949, the state initially did not have an official national anthem. At the constituent sitting of the German Bundestag in its 1st electoral term, the Members sang Hans Ferdinand Maßmann’s song Ich hab mich ergeben / Mit Herz und mit Hand (I have devoted myself / With heart and with hand). Subsequently, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy was played in place of a national anthem on many official occasions. The first Federal President, Theodor Heuss, was unable to gain acceptance for his proposal that an anthem specially commissioned by him should be used.

Instead, the Song of the Germans found favour again. It had first been chosen as the national anthem in 1922 by Friedrich Ebert, the then Reich Chancellor of the Weimar Republic. The first two verses of the song had become politically compromised during the National Socialist dictatorship from 1933 to 1945. It therefore seemed unthinkable to continue singing these two verses after the War. However, since the third verse expresses the aspirations of the 19th-century liberal national movement in the German principalities and is therefore associated with the beginnings of democracy in Germany, the decision was taken to adopt it as the national anthem.

Federal President Theodor Heuss and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer agreed in an exchange of correspondence in 1952 that “the Hoffmann-Haydn song” should be “recognised as the national anthem” of the young Federal Republic of Germany and that the third verse should be sung at state events.

After the reunification of Germany, a new discussion about the song broke out. This was ended in 1991 by an exchange of correspondence between Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker and Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl that was published in the Federal Law Gazette and in which the head of state made the following statement: “The 3rd verse of the Song of the Germans by Hoffmann von Fallersleben with the melody by Joseph Haydn is the national anthem for the German people.”

Hoffmann von Fallersleben

The poet Hoffmann von Fallersleben was professor of literature and linguistics at the University of Breslau (Wroclaw), but lost his professorial chair due to the opinions expressed in his Unpolitical Songs, in which he attacked the particularism of the German principalities. In 1841, he spent the summer on the island of Helgoland, which was a British territory at the time. It was there that he wrote the text of the Song of the Germans on 26 August 1841.