"Trizonesien-Song" ('Trizonesia Song') is a humorous German

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

song written by in 1948. It took on the role of a frivolous national anthem substitute for

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 ...

at a time when there was no official anthem. The song is a self-deprecating, ironic statement of the three western zones' unsolved constitutional status while the three powers, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, occupied the west of Germany.

Chorus

The chorus of the song is:

History

On 8 April 1948, France joined the Bizone, previously formed of the US and UK occupied areas of Germany since the end of

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 ...

. This led to the area being renamed to the Trizone. Berbuer had idea for the song in 1947 while sitting in a restaurant near

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

where the Bizone was being discussed. Someone in the group mentioned the new word 'Bizonesia'. With the addition of France, Berbuer created the word 'Trizonesia'. He premiered the song on 11 November 1948; the official date of publication was 17 December 1948. At the time there was no official German

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 ...

. 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 ...

" had ceased to be official since the surrender of

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 ...

to the allies. Because of this and the popularity of the song, it was used at sporting events as an alternative song to represent Germany. In England it was initially seen as an indication of an emerging

revanchism Revanchism (french: revanchisme, from ''revanche'', "revenge") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement. As a term, revanchism originated in 1870s Fr ...

, but was also later played as a replacement national anthem. At a football match in a British

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

, the song was played alongside "

God Save the King "God Save the King" is the national anthem, national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in ...

" as a national anthem. It was also played at a

cycle race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling ...

in Cologne in 1949 at the awards ceremony. The allied military officers present mistook it for the German national anthem, and rose from their seats. In 1950 the West German

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

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

held a press conference in Berlin addressing this occurrence: "I believe it was last year at a sporting event in the Cologne Stadium. There were also Belgian military present. At the end the national anthems were played, and the band, who obviously had a very efficient and intelligent leader, and had no particular instructions about what should be played for Germany, played the lovely carnival song ''Ich bin ein Einwohner von Trizonesien'' 'sic'' What I'm telling you now is secret — not for publication: many Belgian soldiers stood up and saluted, believing that it was the national anthem."{{Cite web, title = Konrad Adenauer — 1950-04-19 Pressekonferenz Berlin, url = http://www.konrad-adenauer.de/dokumente/pressekonferenzen/pressekonferenz-berlin, website = Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, accessdate = 9 October 2015

References

External links

Trizone Song, recording from 1948
1948 songs Aftermath of World War II in popular culture Allied occupation of Germany German-language songs West German culture Carnival songs