The song we just sang is older than you might think. There are hints of it as far back as the twelfth century, and the German lyrics had reached their canonical form by 1780 at the latest. The English translation we just sang, is, of course, far more recent, with a few liberties to ensure scansion.
This one song, which had to be written but once, has been a thorn in the side of every tyrant to oppress Germans ever since. From the Austro-Hungarians straight through to the eastern communists.
How much of a thorn was it? Unclear. Many oppressive governments withstood it. But enough of a thorn to be banned in 1848. That’s a pretty good sign.
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