"" (; German for "Hail to Thee in the Victor's Crown", literally: "Hail to Thee in the Victor's Wreath") was the official

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 Europea ...

of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

from 1871 to 1918 and royal anthem of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

from 1795 to 1918. Before the foundation of the Empire in 1871, it had been the royal anthem of

since 1795 and remained it after 1871. The melody of the hymn derived from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

anthem "

God Save the King "God Save the King" is the 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 plainchant, ...

". For these reasons, the song failed to become popular within all of Germany. Not only did it fail to win the support of most German nationalists, but it also was never recognized by the southern German states, such as

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

. At the near end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the German Empire was overthrown and "

Das Lied der Deutschen 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 ...

" was adopted as the national anthem of its successor, the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

Lyrics

Heinrich Harries wrote the lyrics in 1790 in honour of King

Christian VII of Denmark Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae'' ...

, and the line "Heil, Kaiser, dir" originally read "Heil, Christian, dir". In 1793, Harries' text was adapted by (1755–1805) for use in

. Schumacher shortened Harries' text and replaced the word ''Christian'' with ''König'' (king). After the proclamation of the German Empire, the word ''König'' was replaced by ''Kaiser'' (emperor). ''Kaiser Wilhelm'' in the lyrics originally referred to

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

who reigned until 1888. His son, Frederick III, who reigned for only 99 days, was succeeded by

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

. One of the jokes at the time was that the song's title is changed to "Heil Dir im Sonderzug" ("Hail to Thee in Thy Royal Train"), owing to Wilhelm II's frequent travels. After the beginning of

in 1914,

Hugo Kaun Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (21 March 1863 – 2 April 1932) was a German composer, conductor, and music teacher. Biography Kaun was born in Berlin, Germany and completed his musical training in his native city. In 1886 (or 1887), he left Germany f ...

set the text of the anthem to new music to remove the similarity to "God Save the King".

Other hymns

Die Wacht am Rhein "" (, ''The Watch on the Rhine'') is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in the historical French–German enmity, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. The origi ...

" ("The Watch on the Rhine") was also a patriotic hymn so popular that it was often regarded as an unofficial

. In the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

, the official hymn was "" ("

Heil unserm König, Heil! Heil unserm König, Heil! ( lit: Hail our king, hail!) was the royal anthem of the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Kingdom of Greece. The song whose lyrics have varied over the decades and which has never been formally declared a national anthem, was ...

"), also sung to the melody of "God Save the King". Likewise,

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

has "

Oben am jungen Rhein "" (; "High on the young Rhine") is the national anthem of Liechtenstein. Written in the 1850s, it is set to the melody of the British anthem, " God Save the King/Queen", which in the 19th century had been used for a number of anthems of German-s ...

" (1920), sung to the same melody. The Hawaiian anthem "

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" is the regional anthem of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It previously served as the national anthem of the independent Hawaiian Kingdom during the late 19th century, and has continued to be Hawaii's official anthem ever since annex ...

", composed by the Prussian

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

Henri Berger Henry or Henri Berger (August 4, 1844 – October 14, 1929) was a Prussian Kapellmeister, composer and royal bandmaster of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1872 to 1915. Biography Berger was born Heinrich August Wilhelm Berger in Berlin, and became a ...

, is a variation of the melody.

Notes

References

Notes Sources *

External links

* * {{Authority control Historical national anthems Royal anthems German anthems German Empire German patriotic songs German-language songs Cultural depictions of Christian VII of Denmark National anthem compositions in G major God Save the King

Lyrics

Other hymns

See also

Notes

References

External links