''Borussia'', also known as the ''Chant national prussien'', was a patriotic

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

song. It temporarily held the status of the national anthem. The

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

is by

Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conducting, conductor from the classical period (music), classical era. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an import ...

, and the text by . ''Borussia'' is a

neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

term for Prussia and a female figure as Prussia's

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

in the song.

History

In 1814, King

Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...

met the Italian composer Gasparo Luigi Pacifico Spontini in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, whom he brought to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1820 as a

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

. One of Spontini's first Berlin works was the composition with the title ''Borussia''. It had already been composed by him two years ago as ''Chant National Prussien''. He instrumented it with 100

violins The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino pic ...

, 50

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B o ...

, twenty other wind instruments (e.g.

Bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

) and 130 voices along with a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

solo. It incorporated the melody of the British anthem ''

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 ...

''. The text was written by Johann Friedrich Leopold Duncker the cabinet secretary of the king. On August 3, 1820, on the occasion of the birthday of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, the performance of ''Borussia'' took place in the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

. Within the same year, it was decreed as a Prussian national anthem and was then on sung in all schools and patriotic festivities. The anthem was later extended by four stanzas,

Karl Alexander Herklots Karl Alexander Herklots (19 January 1759 - 23 March 1830) was a German lawyer, chiefly remembered since his death as a theatre librettist and translator. Life Karl Alexander Herklots was born in Dulzen, a small village a short distance to the sout ...

is considered the author. However, the stanzas never became popular. They can only be found printed by

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben August Heinrich Hoffmann (, calling himself von Fallersleben, after his hometown; 2 April 179819 January 1874) was a German poet. He is best known for writing "", whose third stanza is now the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular ...

.August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben: ''Findlinge.'' Breitkopf und Härtel, Leipzig 1860. While in the course of the founding of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

on 18 January,

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

, in August of the same year, a performance in the Berlin State Opera, an attempt was made to revive ''Borussia'' with changed text - instead of ''Borussia'' now ''Germania'' and instead of ''King'' now ''Kaiser'' - but without success.

Text

Literature

* Emil Bohn: ''Die Nationalhymnen der europäischen Völker.'' In: 4. Heft der Reihe ''Wort und Brauch. Volkskundliche Arbeiten namens der Schlesischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde. In zwanglosen Heften herausgegeben von Dr. Theodor Siebs, ord. Professor a. d. Universität Breslau und Dr. Max Hippe, Stadtbibliothekar in Breslau.'' Verlag von M. & H. Marcus, Breslau 1908. * Franz Magnus Böhme (Hrsg.): ''Volksthümliche Lieder der Deutschen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert nach Wort und Weise aus alten Drucken und Handschriften, sowie aus Volksmund zusammengebracht.'' Breitkopf und Härtel, Leipzig 1895.

External links

*
''Grosser Sieges- und Festmarsch''
von

Wilhelm Wieprecht Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht (8 August 18024 August 1872) was a German musical conductor, composer and inventor. Early life Wieprecht was born at Aschersleben, where he was the oldest son to town musician, Friedrich Jacob Wieprecht.His father was ...

mit dem Lied ''Borussia''

References

{{reflist Historical national anthems Culture of Prussia German anthems

History

Text

Literature

See also

External links

References