"Ich hab′ mich ergeben" (, ), originally titled "Gelübde" ("Vow"), is a German patriotic song. The text was written in 1820 by

Hans Ferdinand Maßmann Hans Ferdinand Massmann (german: Maßmann; 15 August 1797 – 3 August 1874) was a German philology, philologist, known for his studies in Middle High German, Old German German language, language and literature, and for his work introducing gymna ...

. It was one of the unofficial

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

s of

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 ...

from 1949 to 1952, when the "

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 ...

" was officially reinstated. Its tune is now used in the Micronesian national anthem.

History

The national anthem of the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

, "

Patriots of Micronesia "Patriots of Micronesia", also known as "Across all Micronesia", is the national anthem of the Federated States of Micronesia. History A bill to make "Patriots of Micronesia" the national anthem was introduced in 1987, and the anthem was adopte ...

", uses the same tune, as does the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n song "Mu Isamaa armas" ("My beloved native land" by Martin Körber) which used to be Estonia's official flag song until 2009 when it was replaced by

Gustav Ernesaks Gustav Ernesaks (12 December 1908 – 24 January 1993) was an Estonian composer and a choir conductor. Biography Ernesaks was born in Perila, Peningi Parish. He played an integral role in the Singing Revolution and was one of the father figu ...

's "Mu Isamaa on minu arm" ("My homeland is my love"). The melody is quoted by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

in his ''

Academic Festival Overture ''Academic Festival Overture'' (german: Akademische Festouvertüre), Op. 80, by Johannes Brahms, was one of a pair of contrasting concert overtures — the other being the ''Tragic Overture'', Op. 81. Brahms composed the work during the ...

.'' The second stanza includes the words "Land of the Free", similar to the well-known words of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

", written eight years earlier.

Lyrics

''Wir hatten gebauet''

The music had originally been composed for another patriotic song by August Daniel von Binzer, "Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus" (1819). Some sources state that in this song the colours Black, Red, and Gold are mentioned for the first time in this order which is not true. In 1817, Binzer had written a different song that begins with the words ''"Stoßt an! Schwarz-Rot-Gold lebe!"'' (Let's toast! May Black, Red and Gold live!) The song's first performance took place on 27 January 1819 after the forced dissolution of the ''

Urburschenschaft The Urburschenschaft () was the first ''Burschenschaft'', one traditional form of German student fraternities. It was founded in 1815 in Jena, Thuringia, in Germany. As colours, following their initial use in a state flag by the elder Reuss ...

''. Around one year later, he wrote it down in the register of the participants of the Wartburg Festival, which had taken place in 1817. There, he called the tune a "Thuringian folk song". The lyrics were published for the first time in the ''Kieler Commers- und Liederbuch'' in 1821, the tune followed in 1825.

Lyrics

The text refers to the dissolution of the

("A noble house") due to the

Carlsbad decrees The Carlsbad Decrees (german: Karlsbader Beschlüsse) were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town ...

. During the ''

Vormärz ' (; English: ''pre-March'') was a period in the history of Germany preceding the 1848 March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation. The beginning of the period is less well-defined. Some place the starting point directly after the ...

'',

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

often replaced the colours with lines.

References

External links

*
The first two stanzas as MP3 file

YouTube version
of "Ich hab mich ergeben" (first, second and fifth stanza) {{German patriotic songs German songs West Germany National symbols of Germany German patriotic songs German-language songs Historical national anthems National anthem compositions in F major