The Lied von der blauen Fahne (Song of the Blue Flag) was an East German patriotic song written by

Johannes R. Becher Johannes Robert Becher (, 22 May 1891 – 11 October 1958) was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. At one time, he was part of the literary avant-garde, writin ...

and set to music by

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

. Both Becher and Eisler were also the creators of

Auferstanden aus Ruinen "" (, ) is a German patriotic song that was the national anthem of East Germany during its existence from 1949 to 1990. History Background In 1949, the Soviet occupation zone of Allied-occupied Germany became a socialist state under the name of ...

, which became the national anthem of the

German Democratic Republic 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 ...

(GDR).

History

In 1949, the GDR was founded in the

Soviet occupation zone of Germany The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

, which was in place since 1945 after

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. German communists sought to boost the picture of the GDR as being the first

anti-Fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

state on German soil. Unlike

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 ...

(FRG), the GDR refused to recognize its responsibility for the atrocities committed by the Nazis as it regarded itself as a new socialist national entity that had defeated

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. This official state myth thus enabled the development of a strongly outwardly patriotic ideology East Germany whereas West Germany had a more more uncertain public or manifest relationship to its own

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. As the GDR still wanted to reunify Germany in its early years, patriotic and propaganda songs constantly mentioned the country as a whole. Especially in the 1950s, patriotic songs praising Germany, German unity and the future of a new, democratic nation were produced and promoted by the GDR government, the

socialist party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and its sub-organizations. One of these songs was the ''Song of the Blue Flag'' which referred to the flag of the party's youth organisation, the ''

Freie Deutsche Jugend The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

''. Its authors,

and

, had also written East Germany's

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 ...

and other patriotic songs. The official attitude of the socialist government towards Germany changed in 1974 when the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

was modified and all passages referring to the country as a whole or the GDR as a "socialist state of the German nation" were effaced. Hence, the lyrics of the national anthem exalting "Germany, our united fatherland" fell out of use, too, as did all songs about a united Germany thad had hitherto been sung.Weber, Hermann. ''Die DDR. 1945–1990''. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag: München, 2006. Page 84.

Lyrics

References

External links

''Lied von der blauen Fahne''
on YouTube. {{German patriotic songs German patriotic songs East Germany

History

Lyrics

See also

References

External links