National Protect Your Hearing Month on October, 2024: When the German national anthem is performed, what lyrics are usually used?

October, 2024 is National Protect Your Hearing Month 2024. Important Message for October: Protect Your Hearing! National Protect Your Hearing

"On 11 August 1922 President Friedrich Ebert made the "Deutschlandlied" the official German national anthem, as one element of a complex political negotiation. In essence, the political right was granted the very nationalistic anthem, while the left had its way in the selection of the national colors (the right wanted red, black, and white, the old imperial colors; the left wanted red, black, and yellow). Considering the post-World War II history of the anthem, it is worthwhile noting that Ebert already advocated using only the anthem's third stanza."

"During the Nazi era, only the first stanza was used, while the remainder was the SA song Horst-Wessel-Lied."

"In 1945, after the end of World War II, singing "Das Lied der Deutschen" and other symbols used by Nazi Germany were banned for some time by the Allies."

"On 29 April 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer asked President Theodor Heuss in a letter to accept "Das Lied der Deutschen" as the national anthem, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. President Heuss agreed to this on 2 May 1952. This exchange of letters was published in the Bulletin of the Federal Government. Since it was viewed as the traditional right of the president as head of state to set the symbols of the state, the Deutschlandlied thus became the national anthem."

"Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, efforts were made by conservatives in Germany to reclaim all three stanzas for the anthem; the Christian Democratic Union of Baden-Württemberg, for instance, attempted twice (in 1985 and 1986) to make German high school students study all three stanzas, and in 1989 CDU politician Christean Wagner decreed that all high school students in Hesse were to memorize the three stanzas."

"On 7 March 1990, months before reunification, the Constitutional Court declared only the third stanza of Hoffmann von Fallersleben's poem to be protected as a national anthem under criminal law; Section 90a of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) makes defamation of the national anthem a crime, but does not specify what the national anthem is."

"In November 1991, President Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor Helmut Kohl agreed in an exchange of letters to declare the third stanza alone the national anthem of the enlarged republic. On official occasions, Haydn's music is used, and only the third stanza is supposed to be sung. For other uses, all stanzas may be performed. The opening line of the third stanza, Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit, ("Unity and justice and freedom") appears on soldiers' belts, was engraved into the rim of former 5-Deutsche Mark coins, and is currently present on 2-Euro coins minted in Germany."

"Third stanza (Germany's National Anthem)"

"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit

Für das deutsche Vaterland!

Danach lasst uns alle streben

Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit

Sind des Glückes Unterpfand;

National guard survivor benefits question.?

Sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately, if he wasn't retirement eligible you don't qualify for benefits from the NG, unless he had SGLI (life insurance). You may qualify for benefits from the VA, so you need to check out his website:

About the US National Guard...?

The National Guard( Air and Army) are used in times of emergency when their state governors call on them. Also, they have a federal mission and that involves helping out their parent service. I was in the Air National Guard and was put on active duty and did a tour in Iraq. Plus I did duty at my home base in support of OEF and ONE. When you're not on active status, you work one weekend a month, and two weeks a year. But if you're afraid of being deployed don't enlist.