The Hymne an Deutschland (Hymn to Germany) is a patriotic song which the then-

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor Ko ...

, aspired to establish as the new national anthem of Germany. During the early 1950s prior to the adoption of "

Deutschlandlied The "" (; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "" (; "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 German ...

" by

, it acted as a sort of ''de facto'' national anthem of the nascent state.

History

Its lyrics were written by

Rudolf Alexander Schröder Rudolf Alexander Schröder (26 January 1878 – 22 August 1962) was a German translator and poet. In 1962 he was awarded the Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Career Much o ...

in 1950.

Hermann Reutter Hermann Reutter (; 17 June 19001 January 1985) was a German composer and pianist who worked as an academic teacher, university administrator, recitalist, and accompanist. He composed several operas, orchestral works, and chamber music, and especi ...

composed its tune after

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata ''Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Car ...

, whom Heuss wanted to have as composer, had rejected the request and suggested Reutter instead. Heuss’ attempts failed, and in 1952 he and Chancellor

Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Demo ...

recognized the "

" as the new national anthem, with only the third stanza being sung on official occasions.Peter Reichel, ''Schwarz-Rot-Gold: kleine Geschichte deutscher Nationalsymbole nach 1945'', p. 41/42.

Text

References

External links

Short description, tune, and lyrics

Speech by Theodor Heuss on New Year’s Eve
introducing the song to the public (in German) {{German patriotic songs German patriotic songs German music German culture

History

Text

See also

References

External links