Who wrote the words of Germany’s national anthem, “Deutschlandlied”?

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the words of Germany’s national anthem, “Deutschlandlied.”

Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the poem in 1841 on the North Sea island of Heligoland. Joseph Haydn’s 1797 melody provides the tune. The song’s first line, “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,” originally expressed a wish for political unity among the many German states rather than support for a later regime.

Today, only the third stanza is used officially in Germany. It begins with “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit,” meaning “Unity and justice and freedom.” The Federal Republic adopted this arrangement after World War II, and the third stanza was reaffirmed after German reunification in 1991.

The first stanza is not sung at official state events because of its later association with Nazi propaganda. The melody itself predates the poem and was originally written by Haydn for the Austrian imperial anthem.