Which national anthem is known as “The Song of the Germans”?

“The Song of the Germans” is the English meaning of the title “Deutschlandlied,” Germany’s national anthem.

The title comes from the German word Deutschland, meaning Germany, and Lied, meaning song. The work is also commonly called “Das Deutschlandlied,” although the official anthem is specifically the third stanza of Hoffmann von Fallersleben’s poem set to Haydn’s melody.

The first stanza became heavily associated with Nazi-era propaganda, especially because its geographic wording no longer matched Germany’s political boundaries and because the regime used it alongside the Horst-Wessel-Lied. After 1952, West Germany used the song ceremonially, but only the third stanza was restored as the official text after reunification.

The title should not be confused with “Auferstanden aus Ruinen,” which served as the national anthem of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Germany’s present anthem therefore carries both a nineteenth-century literary title and a carefully limited modern official use.