Meanwhile,
Posted on 07/12/2006 8:03:23 AM PDT by SmithL
Hundreds of thousands of flags in black, red and gold are flying over town squares across Germany, where crowds of Germans are enthusiastically cheering, "Deutschland! Deutschland!" In the past, such a sight would be greeted by the rest of the world with anxiousness, even fear. To the neighboring countries of France, the Netherlands and Poland, especially, images of patriotic Germans bring back dark memories of the Third Reich's dominance over Europe prior to and during World War II. Even in modern Germany itself, a show of national pride was met with raised eyebrows and discomfort. Those who paraded the national colors and pronounced their pride at being German were counted as too nationalistic -- and only a few steps from being stigmatized as neo-Nazis.
But that has all changed. The past four weeks of the just-concluded World Cup soccer tournament has changed Germany's self-perception. Not only did the German team cruise into third place -- beyond almost everyone's expectations -- to end up with the bronze medal, but German patriotism has experienced a surprising and remarkably peaceful resurrection. Millions of cars bearing never-seen-before little black, red and gold-flags dominate the streets and autobahns. In the former East Germany, where I live, young people, especially, seemed to like the idea of a united nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Uh oh, it starts inocently like this...and the next thing you know they're annexing the Sudetenland.
Less so in France ...
Is it any crazier than our reaction to the US Hockey Team in 1980?
It's not so much their team, as it is the excellent job Germany did in hosting the world for a month.
Secondly, the event didn't spark a "patriotic revivial."
9/11 did, however.
Did you know its now against German law to sing that song.
That's pretty stoo-pid IMO, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" has some neat words, a good beat and its easy to dance to.
;-)
Actually those lyrics were written before Germany was even a country, it celebrated a United Germany, not Germany dominating the entire world.
Today they use the same music, but a different verse than the one the Nazis used.
Its easy to blame Germany for WWI and WWII, but you don't have to live next to France every day.
The song is their national anthem. The only thing different is the words. 'Deutschland, Deutschland, uber alles' is now 'Einigkeit, und Recht, und Freiheit'
Wrong. It´s not (!) illegal to sing that song. Check it out, it´s a historical song - when it was written (1841) by a DEMOCRAT during a time of MONARCHY, the mentioned borders were the borders of greater Germany.
It´s still ONE song. Deutschland, Deutschland über alles (abused by the Nazis) is the first stanza, our national anthem is the third and last one. If you click on my profile you can find a link to the music.
A patriotic revivial in "the Fatherland," lost the World Cup in embarrassing fashion, and another American is currently winning the Tour de France.
Meanwhile,
I remember someone telling me that Haydn originally wrote the music that became the tune for "Deutschland uber alles" for the Catholic hymn "Tantum ergo," which was written by St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact, he demonstrated it by singing the words of the hymn along with it, and it works.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.