Deutschlandlied

"Deutschlandlied"

English: The Song of Germany
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	"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 (one stanza) file help

The "Deutschlandlied" (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃlantˌliːt] ^ⓘ; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen" (German: [das ˌliːt dɛːʁ ˈdɔʏtʃn̩]; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from Ruins") between 1949 and 1990.

Since World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third stanza has been used 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 the hymn "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", written 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.