Auferstanden aus Ruinen
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Auferstanden aus Ruinen (Risen from the Ruins) was the national anthem of East Germany (German Democratic Republic (GDR), German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR)) during its existence from 1949 to 1990.
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[edit] History
In 1949 the socialist rulers in the Eastern part of Germany occupied by the Soviet Union decided to establish a new German state after the Western Federal Republic of Germany had been founded in May 1949.
For an anthem, lyrics were written by the poet Johannes R. Becher (who later became minister of education) in such a manner that they fitted to the melody also used by the Deutschlandlied of 1841, which had been declared the national anthem of the Weimar Republic in 1919, and used by the Nazis in shortened form (Deutschland über alles). The democratic government in West Germany, where the Federal Republic of Germany was founded also in 1949, approved of this anthem again, which was based on the melody Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, composed in 1797 by Joseph Haydn.
Two musicians proposed music to Becher's lyrics, and the version of Hanns Eisler was selected. He had been in exile in the 1930s and might not have noticed that his music was very similar to the 1930s hit song Goodbye Johnny sung by Hans Albers.
Written in 1949, the anthem reflects the early stages of German separation, in which continuing progress towards reunification of the occupation zones was seen by most Germans as appropriate and natural. Consequently, Becher's lyrics develop several connotations of "unity" and combine them with "fatherland" (einig Vaterland), which here means Germany as a whole. However, this concept soon would not conform to an increasingly icy Cold War context, especially after the Berlin Wall had been erected in 1961 by the East German government.
In 1973, East and West Germany were admitted to the United Nations simultaneously, following talks between the two governments that conferred a degree of mutual recognition. The term Germany was later removed from the GDR constitution, and on official occasions only the anthem's melody was played.[1] No new lyrics were ever written to replace Becher's.
Auferstanden aus Ruinen ceased to be a national anthem when the German Democratic Republic dissolved itself and its states joined the Federal Republic of Germany in the process of German reunification in 1990.
Das Lied der Deutschen of 1841, which had been the anthem of the Weimar Republic since 1919 and of West Germany since 1949, was again the anthem of a united Germany. East German Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière had proposed that Becher's lyrics be added to the united German anthem as additional, but this was rejected by Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
At the end of its last broadcast on 2 October 1990, the East German station Radio Berlin International signed off with an instrumental of Auferstanden aus Ruinen that segued into a rock-beat version of the German anthem.
[edit] Lyrics
[edit] German lyricsAuferstanden aus Ruinen |
[edit] English translationRisen from the ruins |
[edit] Official SED English translationFrom the ruins risen newly, |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Hymne der DDR at "LeMO"
