The "Deutschlandlied", officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen", has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" between 1949 and 1990.
Facsimile of Hoffmann von Fallersleben's manuscript of "Das Lied der Deutschen"
Portrait of Haydn by Thomas Hardy, 1792
August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841
Bundeswehr belt buckle
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European nations tend towards more ornate and operatic pieces, while those in the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, and the Caribbean use a more simplistic fanfare. Some countries that are devolved into multiple constituent states have their own official musical compositions for them ; their constituencies' songs are sometimes referred to as national anthems even though they are not sovereign states.
Early version of the "Wilhelmus" as preserved in a manuscript of 1617 (Brussels, Royal Library, MS 15662, fol. 37v-38r)
Holographic copy of 1847 of Il Canto degli Italiani, the Italian national anthem since 1946
Rouget de Lisle performing "La Marseillaise" for the first time