"Trizonesien-Song" () is a humorous German

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

song written by in 1948. It took on the role of a frivolous national anthem substitute for

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

at a time when there was no official anthem. The song is a self-deprecating, ironic statement of the three western zones' unsolved constitutional status while the three powers, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, occupied the west of Germany.

History

On 8 April 1948, France joined the

Bizone The Bizone () or Bizonia was the combination of the American and the British occupation zones on 1 January 1947 during the occupation of Germany after World War II. With the addition of the French occupation zone on 1 August 1948J. Robert W ...

, previously formed of the US and UK occupied areas of Germany since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This led to the area being renamed to the Trizone. Berbuer had the idea for the song in 1947 while sitting in a restaurant near

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

where the Bizone was being discussed. Someone in the group mentioned the new word 'Bizonesia'. With the addition of France, Berbuer created the word 'Trizonesia'. He premiered the song on 11 November 1948; the official date of publication was 17 December 1948. At the time, there was no official German

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 European ...

. The "

Deutschlandlied The "", officially titled "", is a German poem written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben . A popular song which was made for the cause of creating a unified German state, it was adopted in its entirety in 1922 by the Weimar Repub ...

" had ceased to be official since the surrender of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

to the allies. Because of this and the popularity of the song, it was used at sporting events as an alternative song to represent Germany. In England, it was initially seen as an indication of an emerging

revanchism Revanchism (, from ''revanche'', "revenge") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse the territorial losses which are incurred by a country, frequently after a war or after a social movement. As a term, ''revanchism'' originated i ...

, but was also later played as a replacement national anthem. At a football match in a British

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

, the song was played alongside "

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 ...

" as a national anthem. It was also played at a

cycle race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling sports in ...

in Cologne in 1949 at the awards ceremony. The allied military officers present mistook it for the German national anthem, and rose from their seats. In 1950, the West German

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

held a press conference in Berlin addressing this occurrence, where he said: "I believe it was last year at a sporting event in the Cologne Stadium. There were also Belgian military present. At the end the national anthems were played, and the band, who obviously had a very efficient and intelligent leader, and had no particular instructions about what should be played for Germany, played the lovely carnival song ''Ich bin ein Einwohner von Trizonesien'' 'sic'' What I'm telling you now is secret — not for publication: many Belgian soldiers stood up and saluted, believing that it was the national anthem."

References

External links

Trizone Song, recording from 1948
{{Former anthems of Europe 1948 songs Aftermath of World War II in popular culture Allied occupation of Germany Songs in German Culture of West Germany Carnival songs