Deutschlandlied

Deutschlandlied

English: 'Germany Song'
Facsimile of Hoffmann von Fallersleben's manuscript of "Das Lied der Deutschen"
National anthem of Germany
Also known as	"Das Lied der Deutschen" (English: 'The Song of the Germans')
Lyrics	August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, 1841
Music	Joseph Haydn, 1797
Adopted	1922
Readopted	1952
Relinquished	1945
Preceded by	"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" (Holy Roman Empire, 1797–1806) "Heil dir im Siegerkranz" (German Empire, 1871–1918) "Horst-Wessel-Lied" (as co-official of the NSDAP) (Nazi Germany, 1933–1945) "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" (East Germany, 1949–1990)
Audio sample
Instrumental rendition by the United States Army Europe Band and Chorus in E-flat major file help

The "Deutschlandlied",^[a] officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen",^[b] is the national anthem of Germany. It was first adopted in 1922 during the period of the Weimar Republic, replacing "Heil dir im Siegerkranz". The first stanza of "Deutschlandlied" was used alongside the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" during the Nazi regime from 1933 until the end of World War II. Since then, only the third stanza has been used officially as the national anthem.

Its phrase "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" ('Unity and Justice and Freedom') is considered the unofficial national motto of Germany,^[1] and is inscribed on modern German Army belt buckles and the rims of some German coins.

The music is derived from that of "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", composed in 1797 by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn as an anthem for the birthday of Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics of "Das Lied der Deutschen" as a new text for that music, counterposing the national unification of Germany to the eulogy of a monarch: lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time.

The "Deutschlandlied" was adopted as the national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic, to which all three stanzas were used. West Germany retained it as its official national anthem in 1952, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. After German reunification in 1990, in 1991 only the third stanza was reconfirmed as the national anthem. It is discouraged, although not illegal, to perform the first stanza (or to some degree, the second), due to association with the Nazi regime.

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