''Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland'' is a

German nationalist German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one nat ...

song by

Ernst Moritz Arndt Ernst Moritz Arndt (26 December 1769 – 29 January 1860) was a German nationalist historian, writer and poet. Early in his life, he fought for the abolition of serfdom, later against Napoleonic dominance over Germany. Arndt had to flee to Swe ...

(1813) which was popular in the 19th century. Berlin

History

In the text, Arndt asks the

German question The "German question" was a debate in the 19th century, especially during the Revolutions of 1848, over the best way to achieve a unification of Germany, unification of all or most lands inhabited by Germans. From 1815 to 1866, about 37 independ ...

and answers it by demanding a Greater German

nation-state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...

comprising all

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-speaking areas in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The song was performed for the first time in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1814. As the original tune did not become popular, Gustav Reichardt wrote a new melody in 1825. This new tune made the song very popular among the German population that desired the transformation of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

into a united empire, instead of the previous situation where there were multiple

duchies A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

Joachim Raff Joseph Joachim Raff (27 May 182224 or 25 June 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, pedagogue and pianist. Biography Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitme ...

used Reichhardt's tune as a

leitmotif A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglici ...

in his symphony ''An das Vaterland''. In 1911, Emil Sembritzki, wrote a song known as "Was ist des Deutschen Tochterland?", which used the 1825 tune and embraced German colonialism.

Lyrics

Arndt enumerates German states and regions and asks whether these particular areas are the fatherland of all Germans. He immediately replies with ″no″ and finally concludes that no particular state or states can be the German fatherland, which is understood to be the entirety of predominantly German-speaking areas.

References

External links

''Des Deutschen Vaterland''
on YouTube *
Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland (Detailed with translation and map)
' on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Deutschen Vaterland, Des German patriotic songs German music German culture German nationalism Songs about Germany 19th-century songs Year of song unknown