"Heil unserm König, Heil!" ('Hail to Our King, Hail!') was the royal anthem of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

and the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

. The song whose lyrics have varied over the decades and which has never been formally declared a

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 ...

, was one of the numerous German state anthems set to the melody of '

God Save the King "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is ''de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of national anthems of New Zealand, two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle ...

' which often began with the same line of lyrics.

Lyrics

During the reign of Luitpold as a

prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

, there was a variation known as ''Regentenhymne'' (The regent's hymn) in which the words "unserm König" were replaced by "dem Regenten (the regent)" in the title and in the first stanza, and also "edler König" in the fourth verse being replaced by "bester Herrscher (best ruler)".Bavarian Armed Forces Association:
Liederbuch der deutschen Jungen
' During the establishment of King Otto of Greece, the Bavarian anthem was used. The following Greek verses were used:

References

{{reflist Kingdom of Bavaria History of modern Greece God Save the King