History UsefulNotes / Germany

Being late to unify, the country was able to only establish a handful of colonies in Africa and the Pacific. German industry saw the establishment of a strong economy, and their education system saw the cultivation of some of the finest scientists of the turn of the century, such as Wilhelm Röntgen, who discovered X-rays, and theoretical physicists Max Planck and Albert Einstein. However, the fact that the country was formed from above by a state-directed economy led by an aristocratic-warrior caste of Junkers meant that it could not escape the militaristic and expansionist nature of its founding. Imperial German had a Parliament (called the Reichstag) whose lower houses were elected by universal manhood suffrage but they had no say in domestic and foreign policy which was entirely in the hands of the Kaiser and his fellow chancellors and advisers. The Junkers who owned the majority of land in Prussia and who were active and over-represented in the German government refused to allow agrarian reform and instead proposed satisfying the demands of land by colonization or expanding eastwards, just like the Teutonic Knights did, and just like Frederick the Great did when he invaded and broke apart Poland. This authoritarian form of representative government was proudly declared by German conservatives to signify the "special path" (Sonderweg) of modernization that allowed them to sit on the [[GoldenMeanFallacy golden mean]] that allowed them to avoid the decadent autocracy of the East (Russia), and the decadent democracy of the West (England, France, America). In the second half of the 20th Century, the word Sonderweg would be reinterpreted to signify how Germany's path to modernization did not lead to liberal institutions and allowed archaic aristocratic and feudal characteristics to coexist with a modernized industrial state.

The Revolution failed [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore but it did shatter the Conservative Order]] in place since Waterloo and eventually the same conservatives who clamped down on German Unification came around to it, albeit for its own terms and interests. UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck started a shift among the German conservatives to "a revolution from above". Nationalism, formerly a liberal and left-wing idea, was co-opted by the right and a new majoritarian idea of a unified Germany started to surface. Through diplomatic cunning and careful manipulation, Bismarck managed to weaken non-Prussian states, so that Prussia alone would be the cradle and prime mover and shaker of German Unification, all to better benefit the Junker class. Victory in the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar led to the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, which reflected the ''Kleindeutsche Lösung'' (solution of a small Germany)-- the unification of all German countries except Austria.[[note]]The reason the Prussians and their allies wanted Austria excluded were twofold. First and most important, Austria was predominantly Catholic, while Prussia and most other northern German states were primarily Protestant. Second, [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austria already had its own multicultural empire]]; the Prussians did not want such a huge influx of non-Germans into the new Germany, while Austria's Habsburg monarchs would never dream of renouncing rule over the non-German half of their empire. Third, the Prussian Junker class were ''technically'' the new kids on the block and feared that their seniority would be contested by the older and more prestigious Austrian claims, and there were also rivalries between Prussia and Austria going back to the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar.[[/note]]. This led to the formation of UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany which became a model for rapid industrialization and modernization. Within a few years of beginning industrialization, Germany rapidly closed the gap between itself, France and Britain and became the richest and most developed nation in Continental Europe, with the largest population. Visitors from other countries, such as the formerly isolationist UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} sent a delegation to Europe and became very interested in German advancement and this inspired the government structure of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan which also formed its own "revolution from above" and the reason why the Parliament in Japan is also called "Diet".

After Napoleon's defeat, Prussia emerged as the dominant power in what was then considered German lands. From this, a loose confederation was formed, including the world's first customs union that didn't involve the simultaneous creation of a political union. For a while, Prussia and Austria struggled for dominance. Supporters of either side were known as Little Germans and Big Germans respectively. This referred not to the size or power of the two states, but of their divergent visions of what a unified Germany should be. The "Big Germans" of Austria wanted a unified Germany that would encompass all of the German-speaking kingdoms and city-states, while the "Little Germans" of Prussia wanted a unified Germany to encompass all of the German-speaking kingdoms and city-states...except Austria. The elite aristocrats in this time were fiercely reactionary, wanting to turn the clock back and pretend that revolutions were a thing in the past. The UsefulNotes/RevolutionsOf1848 were a rude awakening for many of them, but an even ruder awakening for the revolutionaries themselves, because it highlighted the divisions and lack of organization between the various anti-conservative forces. It was during the Revolution, that the modern German flag (in tricolor format, in the mode of the French) of black, red and gold first made its appearance, as did the popularity of the song that became the national anthem. The Revolutionaries were crushed, many of them became emigres and exiles, many of them going to America and becoming active in the Abolitionist and Radical Republican causes (including Carl Schurz, an actual Forty-Eighter revolutionary, and cartoonist Thomas Nast, the son of one). Others stayed in Europe and went underground eventually forming the core of the socialist and social democrat movements, including but not limited to, Creator/KarlMarx and Friedrich Engels.

The late 17th and early 18th Century is seen as the Golden Age, where Germans contributed heavily to UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment, and became known as ''The Land of [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker Poets and Thinkers]]''. This was the age of Kant, Gauss, Leibniz, Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe, Schiller, and Lessing, among others. German writers were among the European avant-garde, being the first to challenge Neoclassicism and playing a major role in making Creator/WilliamShakespeare a major European writer, as opposed to an English one. In this same time, Prussia under UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat became a major new power in the Continent, strengthened by the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar and playing a major part in the dissolution of the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth. UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution once again divided Germany. Jacobin clubs began forming in parts of Germany, with prominent voices advocating for revolution and democracy, and some such as Metz briefly became an independent republic supported by the French before being crushed. There was no mass support or grounds for the same at the time and the German Noble hierarchy, aided by French aristocratic emigres were firmly counter-revolutionary, which was reinforced by the recurring victories of the French Revolutionary Army. When UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte became emperor and war was breaking out, he pre-emptively invaded Austria and Germany, ending the Holy Roman Empire permanently and then more or less rewriting and reordering the boundaries of Germany. Thanks to his influence, the borders were radically restructured and of hundreds of states, only around forty were left. More important however was the impact of his reforms in Germany. He introduced meritocracy and administrative modernity, his Civil Code, and most crucially, the de-ghettoization of Jews. At the time, Jews, having been expelled previously from France, Spain, and only recently being allowed back in England, were most prominent in Central Europe (hence the AllJewsAreAshkenazi trope: Ashkenazis are Jews of Central Europe, whose language was Yiddish, formed by a mix of Hebrew and German). Under Napoleon, Jews were allowed equal rights, access to education, work and jobs[[note]]The fathers and ancestors of Creator/KarlMarx, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud and UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein to name a few were all beneficiaries of Napoleon's reforms which should give you some idea of how momentous an event this was[[/note]]. However, Napoleon was also...well Napoleon. His rule over Germany did not always endear him, what his execution of publisher Joseph Philip Palm who published a pro-independence publication. Some Germans supported Napoleon while others didn't. The Prussian Army developed a fierce dislike for Napoleon and his supporters, and the military-aristocratic elite formed the core of anti-Napoleonic resistance. After Napoleon's invasion of Russia, he faced his major defeat at the Battle of Leipzig (which was the largest battle in Europe until World War I), with Germans on both sides.

The late 17th and early 18th Century is seen as the Golden Age, where Germans contributed heavily to UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment, and became known as ''The Land of [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker Poets and Thinkers]]''. This was the age of Kant, Gauss, Leibniz, Goethe, Schiller, Lessing among others. German writers were among the European avant-garde, being the first to challenge Neoclassicism and playing a major role in making Creator/WilliamShakespeare a major European writer, as opposed to an English one. In this same time, Prussia under UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat became a major new power in the Continent, strengthened by the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar and playing a major part in the dissolution of the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth. UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution once again divided Germany. Jacobin clubs began forming in parts of Germany, with prominent voices advocating for revolution and democracy, and some such as Metz briefly became an independent republic supported by the French before being crushed. There was no mass support or grounds for the same at the time and the German Noble hierarchy, aided by French aristocratic emigres were firmly counter-revolutionary, which was reinforced by the recurring victories of the French Revolutionary Army. When UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte became emperor and war was breaking out, he pre-emptively invaded Austria and Germany, ending the Holy Roman Empire permanently and then more or less rewriting and reordering the boundaries of Germany. Thanks to his influence, the borders were radically restructured and of hundreds of states, only around forty were left. More important however was the impact of his reforms in Germany. He introduced meritocracy and administrative modernity, his Civil Code, and most crucially, the de-ghettoization of Jews. At the time, Jews, having been expelled previously from France, Spain, and only recently being allowed back in England, were most prominent in Central Europe (hence the AllJewsAreAshkenazi trope: Ashkenazis are Jews of Central Europe, whose language was Yiddish, formed by a mix of Hebrew and German). Under Napoleon, Jews were allowed equal rights, access to education, work and jobs[[note]]The fathers and ancestors of Creator/KarlMarx, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud and UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein to name a few were all beneficiaries of Napoleon's reforms which should give you some idea of how momentous an event this was[[/note]]. However, Napoleon was also...well Napoleon. His rule over Germany did not always endear him, what his execution of publisher Joseph Philip Palm who published a pro-independence publication. Some Germans supported Napoleon while others didn't. The Prussian Army developed a fierce dislike for Napoleon and his supporters, and the military-aristocratic elite formed the core of anti-Napoleonic resistance. After Napoleon's invasion of Russia, he faced his major defeat at the Battle of Leipzig (which was the largest battle in Europe until World War I), with Germans on both sides.

The Guelph-Ghillebine conflict between the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire would weaken the empire in favour of the other Kingdoms, especially the French. Towards the end of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, Germany became the center of UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation, when Martin Luther aided by the Printing Press developed by UsefulNotes/JohannesGutenberg, sparked a religious movement that led to the German Peasants War. The spread of Protestantism with its emphasis on work, literacy and a personal connection to {{God}}, led to the formation of the Protestant Ethic that led to the development of industry and capitalism. With the Reformation came the slow development of a standard UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage, but actual German unity was delayed on account of the religious divides and the violence of the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, which proportionately is still considered the most destructive war in German history.

The Guelph-Ghillebine conflict between the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire would weaken the empire in favour of the other Kingdoms, especially the French. Towards the end of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, Germany became the center of UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation, when Martin Luther aided by the Printing Press developed by Johannes Gutenberg, sparked a religious movement that led to the German Peasants War. The spread of Protestantism with its emphasis on work, literacy and a personal connection to God, led to the formation of the Protestant Ethic that led to the development of industry and capitalism. With the Reformation came the slow development of a standard UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage, but actual German unity was delayed on account of the religious divides and the violence of the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, which proportionately is still considered the most destructive war in German history.

During TheMiddleAges, the Holy Roman Empire became involved in UsefulNotes/TheCrusades. Jews who had settled in the Rhineland became victims of the first pogroms in European history during the People's Crusade. A crusading order called UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights played a major role in Christianizing the Baltic regions, eventually setting up shop in UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}, the region of Germany that would become the most powerful domain of the HRE and eventually unify and modernize Germany. The Teutonic Knights [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostsiedlung also encouraged colonization and settlement]] across Eastern Europe. The Guelph-Ghillebine conflict between the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire would weaken it in favour of the other Kingdoms, especially the French. Towards the end of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, Germany became the center of the Reformation, when Martin Luther aided by the Printing Press developed by Johannes Gutenberg, sparked a religious movement that led to the German Peasants War. The spread of Protestantism with its emphasis on work, literacy and a personal connection to God, led to the formation of the Protestant Ethic that led to the development of industry and capitalism. With the Reformation came the slow development of a standard UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage, but actual German unity was delayed on account of the religious divides and the violence of the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, which proportionately is still considered the most destructive war in German history.

After Charlemagne, the Empire splintered. One of its regions became the separate kingdom of UsefulNotes/{{France}}, while the Empire fractured into hundreds of kingdoms, duchies, margraviates, bishoprics, merchant republics and other states. Unusually for the time, the Empire became an ElectiveMonarchy, but this Electorate was restricted to feudal nobility. This created a state that had the problems of feudalism (i.e. make the King dependent on local lords and lower nobility for their army) with none of its advantages (i.e. a strong independent King who had the power to unify, and establish order by means of justice and force). The smaller states were usually to some extent dominated by their bigger neighbors, such as [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austria]], Bavaria or Brandenburg (and latter UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}), although the filthy rich [[LandOfOneCity city-states]] that were members of the UsefulNotes/HanseaticLeague could practically buy and sell fate. This splintering and constant infighting prevented the development of a strong German Kingdom on the model of {{UsefulNotes/England}}, UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} in the comparative timeframe.

After Charlemagne, the Empire splintered. One of its regions became the separate kingdom of UsefulNotes/{{France}}, while the Empire fractured into hundreds of kingdoms, duchies, margraviates, bishoprics, merchant republics and other states. Unusually for the time, the Empire became an ElectiveMonarchy, but this Electorate was restricted to feudal nobility. This created a state that had the problems of feudalism (i.e. make the King dependent on local lords and lower nobility for their army) with none of its advantages (i.e. a strong independent King who had the power to unify, and establish order by means of justice and force). The smaller states were usually to some extent dominated by their bigger neighbors, such as [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austria]], Bavaria or Brandenburg (and latter UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}), although the filthy rich [[LandOfOneCity city-states]] that were a member of the Hanseatic League could practically buy and sell fate. This splintering and constant infighting prevented the development of a strong German Kingdom on the model of [[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom England]], UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} in the comparative timeframe.

After Charlemagne, the Empire splintered with one region becoming the separate kingdom of UsefulNotes/{{France}}, while the Empire fractured into hundreds of kingdoms, duchies, margraviates, bishoprics, merchant republics and others. Unusually for the time, the Empire became an ElectiveMonarchy, but this Electorate was restricted to feudal nobility creating a state that had the problems of feudalism (i.e. make the King dependent on local lords and lower nobility for their army) with none of its advantages (i.e. a strong independent King who had the power to unify, and establish order by means of justice and force). The smaller ones were usually to some extent dominated by their bigger neighbors, such as [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austria]], Bavaria or Brandenburg (and latter UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}), although the filthy rich city states that were a member of the Hanseatic League could practically buy and sell fate. This splintering and constant infighting prevented the development of a strong German Kingdom on the model of [[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom England]], UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} in the comparative timeframe.

This ancient outline already reveals much of the divisions that made periodic unification and division a recurring problem for Germany. German historians and thinkers of the 19th and 20th Century were fond of pointing out that if one looks closely at the Catholic-Protestant divide of Germany, -- Protestants are predominantly in Northern Germany and Catholics in South Germany, then one can find that Protestantism took root in those parts that were unconquered by the Romans, while those that fell under Roman influence went Catholic. Protestantism also took hold among those lands colonized and settled or influenced by those same unconquered Germans (Scandinavia and England[[note]]Settled once by the Saxons, and a second time by the Vikings, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs and a third time by Normans, who were Vikings who turned French]], who were originally Franks[[/note]]). The end of the Western Empire, led to the formation of new states and lands, and Germanic tribes stepped into the vacuum. Rome was occupied by the Ostragoths, descendants of Odoacer who recent scholarship credit for actually assimilating and briefly attempting to continue the institutions of Rome, albeit hampered by the general decay of the Crisis of the Third Century. The Ostragoths work would be undone by the campaigns of Belisarius which devastated Italy, and nearly left Rome depopulated. Meanwhile, the Franks under UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}} formed the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire (so bestowed by the Pope to spite the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire) and Charlemagne succeeded in Christianizing the remaining pagan holdouts, albeit with famous brutality.

Still other tribes however, became conquered and assimilated into Rome, with some parts of Germany being founded and established by the Romans (such as Cologne, which incidentally was a place where Roman Jews settled in 321 CE [[note]]UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud was fond of remarking in TheRoaringTwenties and TheThirties that [[WhileYouWereInDiapers there were Jews in Germany]] long before Germany was invented as a nationality and ethnicity[[/note]]). Germanic soldiers were conscripted as mercenaries to supplement the Roman legions, and near the end of the Western Roman Empire, these mercenaries (eternally called [[BarbarianTribe barbarians]] by the Romans) had actually become the major fighting force of the Romans, and were schooled in Roman tactics and fighting methods but who were denied rights of Roman citizenship and promotion out of old prejudices. This eventually led to the end of the Western Roman Empire, the deposition of Romulus Augustus and Julius Nepos in favour of Odoacer. These Germanic tribes eventually became the Visigoths, the Ostragoths and the Franks. As for the part of Germany that was unconquered, it is believed they interacted and traded and settled in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea with the tribes of the Scandinavian nations resulting in the spread of [[Myth/NorseMythology the Germanic religion and its gods]].

The Germanic tribes were already known to UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic and UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. Unlike the Celts, the Iberians, the Helvetians, the Gauls, and the Illyrians, a good contingent of them resisted subjugation and inflicted on the Romans [[ShockingDefeatLegacy one of its most famous defeats]] at the Battle of Teutoburg (albeit led by Arminius, who fought in the Roman army, learnt their tactics and then schooled his Germans to better resist them[[note]]He was rewarded for his trouble by being killed by his own tribesmen, who were afraid he was growing too powerful[[/note]]). Other Germanic tribes faced poorly against the Romans, chiefly the Marcomanni, a Confederation of Tribes across Central Europe, who were subjugated by Marcus Aurelius. Still other tribes however, became conquered and assimilated into Rome, with some parts of Germany being founded and established by the Romans (such as Cologne which incidentally was a place where Roman Jews settled in 321 CE [[note]]UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud was fond of remarking in TheRoaringTwenties and TheThirties that [[WhileYouWereInDiapers there were Jews in Germany]] long before Germany was invented as a nationality and ethnicity[[/note]]). Germanic soldiers were conscripted as mercenaries to supplement the Roman legions, and near the end of the Western Roman Empire, these mercenaries (eternally called barbarians by the Romans) had actually become the major fighting force of the Romans, and were schooled in Roman tactics and fighting methods but who were denied rights of Roman citizenship and promotion out of old prejudices. This eventually led to the end of the Western Roman Empire, the deposition of Romulus Augustus and Julius Nepos in favour of Odoacer. These Germanic tribes eventually became the Visigoths, the Ostragoths and the Franks. As for the part of Germany that was unconquered, it is believed they interacted and traded and settled in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea with the tribes of the Scandinavian nations resulting in the spread of [[Myth/NorseMythology the Germanic religion and its gods]].

The Germanic tribes were already known to UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic and UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. Unlike the Celts, the Iberians, the Helvetians, the Gauls, the Illyrians, a good contingent of them resisted subjugation and inflicted on the Romans [[ShockingDefeatLegacy one of its most famous defeats]] at the Battle of Teutoburg (albeit led by Arminius, who fought in the Roman army, learnt their tactics and then schooled his Germans to better resist them[[note]]He was rewarded for his trouble by being killed by his own tribesmen who were afraid he was growing too powerful[[/note]]). Other Germanic tribes faced poorly against the Romans, chiefly the Marcomanni, a Confederation of Tribes across Central Europe, who were subjugated by Marcus Aurelius. Still other tribes however, became conquered and assimilated into Rome, with some parts of Germany being founded and established by the Romans (such as Cologne which incidentally was a place where Roman Jews settled in 321 CE [[note]]UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud was fond of remarking in TheRoaringTwenties and TheThirties that [[WhileYouWereInDiapers there were Jews in Germany]] long before Germany was invented as a nationality and ethnicity[[/note]]). Germanic soldiers were conscripted as mercenaries to supplement the Roman legions, and near the end of the Western Roman Empire, these mercenaries (eternally called barbarians by the Romans) had actually become the major fighting force of the Romans, and were schooled in Roman tactics and fighting methods but who were denied rights of Roman citizenship and promotion out of old prejudices. This eventually led to the end of the Western Roman Empire, the deposition of Romulus Augustus and Julius Nepos in favour of Odoacer. These Germanic tribes eventually became the Visigoths, the Ostragoths and the Franks. As for the part of Germany that was unconquered, it is believed they interacted and traded and settled in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea with the tribes of the Scandinavian nations resulting in the spread of [[Myth/NorseMythology the Germanic religion and its gods]].

Germany ('''German:''' ''Deutschland''), officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany ('''German:''' ''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''), is a federal republic located in UsefulNotes/CentralEurope and Western Europe. Modern-day Germany is a major economic power, a member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion, [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfEight G8]] and the UsefulNotes/{{NATO}}, and the most developed and richest economy of Europe, with the second largest population in Europe (after UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}) and largest in Western Europe.

Germany ('''German:''' ''Deutschland''), officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany ('''German:''' ''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''), is a federal republic in Central/Western Europe. Modern-day Germany is a major economic power, a member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion, [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfEight G8]] and the UsefulNotes/{{NATO}}, and the most developed and richest economy of Europe, with the second largest population in Europe (after UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}) and largest in Western Europe.

* '''Population:''' 83,166,711

''[[caption-width-right:329:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMOVINUKTg Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit]][[note]]Unity and Right and Freedom[[/note]]]]''

''[[caption-width-right:329:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMOVINUKTg Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit]]]]''[[note]]Unity and Right and Freedom[[/note]]

''[[caption-width-right:329:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMOVINUKTg Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit]]]]''

''[[caption-width-right:329:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMOVINUKTg Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit]]]]''[[note]]Unity and Right and Freedom[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:329:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMOVINUKTg Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit]]]]

The German national anthem is the third stanza of the "Lied der Deutschen", more commonly known as "Deutschlandlied", which was written in 1841 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, to a melody composed in 1797 by Music/JosephHaydn for "Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser", an anthem in honor of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Though the "Deutschlandlied" has three stanzas, only the third is the national anthem.

The ''Deutschlandlied'' was originally written in 1841, to an older melody composed in 1797, long before unification. ----

The ''Deutschlandlied'' was originally written in 1841, to an older melody composed in 1797, long before unification. It was meant to foster a sense of nationalist unity, hence the (in)famous opening line "Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles[[note]]the original intent was something like "Germans, your primary loyalty should be to Germany as a whole rather than to your local city/state"[[/note]]." The Nazis misused the first stanza, combined with the party's "Horst-Wessel-Lied," as the national anthem. Because of that and the nationalistic connotations associated with the first stanza, only the third stanza became the anthem of West Germany, and later the reunified Germany.
----

-> '''[[JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf Both]]''': Do-ho-hohohoho!

-> '''Statler:''' Tja, auch wir können unsere Herkunft auch nicht verleugnen, nicht wahr, Waldorf? [[note]]Well, even we can't deny our roots, can we, Waldorf?[[/note]]

-> ''Waldorf:'' Ach ja, die Deutschen; Eine Nation bestehend aus Griesgrämen, Spießbürgern und anderen Unsympathen![[note]]Ah yes, the Germans; A nation consisting of misanthropes, philistines and other unpleasant characters.[[/note]]
-> ''Statler:'' Tja, auch wir können unsere Herkunft auch nicht verleugnen, nicht wahr, Waldorf? [[note]]Well, even we can't deny our roots, can we, Waldorf?[[/note]]
-> ''[[JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf Both]]'': Do-ho-hohohoho!

* '''Lowest point:''' Neuendorf-Sachsenbande (−4 m/−12 ft) (32nd)