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DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND, LAND OF ALL LANDS

Hoffman von Fallersleben

From the German of Hoffman von Fallersleben, rendered freely into English verse by

George Sylvester Viereck


Deutschland, Deutschland, land of all lands,

First and foremost in the world,

When thy children face united

Every foe against thee hurled,

From the Meuse unto the Memel,

To the sea, with flags unfurled:

Deutschland, Deutschland, land of all lands,

First and foremost in the world!


German troth and German women,

German wine and German song,

Shall retain their ancient glamour,

Though the years be dark and long,

Noble deeds they shall inspire

In our hearts, and make us strong:

German troth and German women,

German wine and German song.


Brotherhood and right and freedom

Bless thee, German Fatherland,

For this goal we strive together,

One and all, with heart and hand,

For upon these mighty pillars

Evermore thy weal must stand:

Bloom and flourish in that glory,

Flourish, German Fatherland!


von Fallersleben, Hoffman. “Deutschland, Deutschland, Land of All Lands.” Translated by George Sylvester Viereck. The Fatherland 1, no. 13 (November 4, 1914): 7.


von Fallersleben, Hoffman. “Deutschland, Deutschland, Land of All Lands.” Translated by George Sylvester Viereck. The Fatherland 1, no. 13 (November 4, 1914): 7.

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Deutschland, Deutschland

English translation of the first line of “Das Lied der Deutschen,” a poem written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874) on Helgoland in 1841: “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles.” His poem called for a unified, constitutional German nation that would both overcome the proliferation of small states and guarantee civil liberties, a goal that should be Germans’ top priority—“über alles.” The poet set his text to the melody of Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Kaiserhymne” (1797) because his vision of a unified Germany included Austria.1 Dismissed from his position as a professor of German literature at the University of Breslau (which he had held since 1830) for his liberal, nationalist views, he became a political exile. In 1922, “Das Lied der Deutschen” became the official national anthem of the Weimar Republic. The National Socialists sang just the first verse, emphasizing German superiority over all other nations. The third verse, which begins “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit,” became the official German national anthem in 1991.


1Reichel, Peter. Glanz und Elend deutscher Selbstdarstellung: Nationalsymbolik in Reich und Republik. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2012, 73.


Hotch, Hanno. “Das Deutschlandlied–ein Lied mit Geschichte.” NDR. May 5, 2021. Accessed June 12, 2021. https://www.ndr.de/geschichte/chronologie/Deutschlandlied-ein-Lied-mit-Geschichte-,liedderdeutschen100.html.


Hoffmann von Fallersleben, August Heinrich. “Das Lied der Deutschen.” In Deutsche Lieder aus der Schweiz, 16–17. Zürich 1842. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89068030295?urlappend=%3Bseq=22.

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From the Meuse

The Meuse River rises in France and flows through Belgium and the Netherlands to the North Sea. The Neman (German Memel) rises in Belarus and flows through Lithuania to the Baltic Sea. Here the rivers suggest the eastern and western borders of a German nation.

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