Why cant you sing deutschland uber alles in germany anymore?

Question

Deutschland uber alles had been the national anthem in germany for years, even before the nazi rule. Surely if it can survive ww1, it should be allowed to survive ww2 as well...Is it just Germany sweeping WW2 until the carpet..or what

Answer 1

and what about Panzerlied.... i liked that tune too!

Answer 2

Deutschland über Alles

Answer 3

Yes, the first and the second parts are forbidden but the third one is the national anthem. I see forbidding it kind of moral revenge against Germany. In fact, it sounds racist supremasict only when you split the stanzas; but together they mean:

Germany is "over all" (literally translating), (BUT) if it comes together brotherly and united. Pay attention the CAPS below.
(Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles ÜBER ALLES in der Welt WENN es stehte zu Schutz und Trutze BRÜDERLICH ZUSAMMENHALT)

And This is true that political map of Germany was far more large in 1848 (when the lyrics were written). Those places were German duchies and etc. And they really become very powerful even partly combined in 1871 (When German Empire was declared in Versailles).

Simply jealousy... of probably France, maybe England, or one could add the USA...

Answer 4

First it only became the anthem in 1922.

Secondly, the Nazis changed it singing only the first verse and then going into the Horst Wiesel lied. The Horst Wiesel lied is banned, deutshland uber alles isn't.

Third, in 1952 germany adopted the third stanza of the song as it's anthem as well as taking it's motto from the song. In 1991 it became the national anthem of a re-united Germany.

So to review you're wrong.

Answer 5

According to German law it is prohibited to display symbols of the Nazi era, i.e. swastikas, Reichskriegsflaggen (war flags), Hitler pictures etc. and since "Deutschland Deutschland ueber alles" has become somewhat politically incorrect it is not allowed anymore. The "Deutschlandlied" that Hoffmann von Fallersleben composed consists of 3 verses and only the third verse is the official national anthem of Germany.

Answer 6

"Deutschland Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" means "Germany Germany over everything, over everything in the world" and is an extremely nationalist, supremacist statement. In addition, this stanza, originally the first stanza of the "Song of the Germans", states the rivers Maas, Memel, Etsch and Belt as German borders - which would mean a much bigger Germany, as these rivers are in France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Poland now. So singing this stanza as the national anthem would mean totally unjustified territorial claims from other countries.
The second stanza of the "Song of the Germans" is something about German women and German wine - not so useful for a national anthem either. So now only the third stanza ("Unity and justice and freedom for the German fatherland...") is used.

It has nothing to do with sweeping history under the carpet. It is not swept under the carpet. There is a lot of documentation and education about the Nazi period. It's just that lyrics like those of the first two stanzas are simply inacceptable for a national anthem now.

And by the way not everything was fine before the Nazi rule, it was pre-Nazi German nationalism and supremacism that produced Nazism and World War II could only happen because people didn't learn the right lessons from World War I.

Answer 7

Actually, the old national anthem of Germany is still the national anthem. However, because the stanza that talks about "Germany above everything else" (ueber alles) was a symbol of the Nazi ideals, it has been dropped, and the anthem now uses other stanzas of the same poem, with the same melody.

Sometimes it is best to drop controversial words, but still carry on the tradition. Germany did that, and it seems to have worked.

Answer 8

I think that is still their national anthem, I think you have it mixed up with "Horst Wessel Lied (pronounced leed)" song, which was the official song of the nazis and the "co-national anthem" from 33-45. I believe that is the song that has been banned.

Horst Wessel, a nazi party member, was a pimp who also happened to write poetry once in a while. In 1931 he was killed by an angry customer over some woman. The customer just happened to be a communist party member, and they decided to politicize it and make a martyr out of Horst. They took some of his writing and made a song of it.

Answer 9

I thought Memel is a river crossing Lithuania and it's called Nemunas there.

Answer 10

Regardless of the lyrics, one of the most beautiful musical pieces I have ever heard (not as a march, but softly with violins).

Answer 11

Yes you can