The Hymne an Deutschland (Hymn to Germany) is a patriotic song which the then-president of West Germany, Theodor Heuss, aspired to establish as the new national anthem of Germany.Celia Applegate (ed.), Music and German National Identity, The University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 262. During the early 1950s prior to the adoption of "Deutschlandlied" by West Germany, it acted as a sort of de facto national anthem of the nascent state. text, melody
History Its lyrics were written by Rudolf Alexander Schröder in 1950. Hermann Reutter composed its tune after Carl Orff, 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 recognized the "Deutschlandlied" as the new national anthem, with only the third stanza being sung on official occasions., Schwarz-Rot-Gold: kleine Geschichte deutscher Nationalsymbole nach 1945, C. H. Beck, Munich 2005, pp. 41–42.
Text and melody
See also Brecht's Kinderhymne Auferstanden aus Ruinen Deutschlandlied Heil dir im Siegerkranz Trizonesien-Song
References
External links "Geschichte im Spiegel der Nachrichten (1923–2002)", Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor: "Speech by Theodor Heuss on New Year's Eve 1950 (4:42)", including a reading of all three stanzas (in German) , Mountain Band of the Bundeswehr, lieutenant colonel Michael Euler conducting