Vice President suggests Germany change national anthem and flag

Bundestag Vice President Bodo Ramelow (die Linke) has suggested that Germany change its national anthem and have a vote on whether to change its flag. Ramelow suggested a Brecht number as an alternative anthem.

Ramelow suggests updating German national anthem

Bundestag Vice President and former Premier Minister of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, has suggested that Germany change its national anthem and vote on whether to change its flag.

Ramelow explained that he “knew many eastern Germans who don’t sing the national anthem for various reasons”. August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben’s Das Lied von Deutschen or Deutschlandlied was adopted in 1922. 

In 1991, Chancellor Helmut Kohl declared the national anthem would be the Deutschlandlied’s third stanza alone. The first line of the anthem changed from, “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” (“Germany, Germany, above all”) to “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit” (“Unity and Justice and Freedom”).

In the 1950s, however, German poet and playwright Bertold Brecht wrote an alternative anthem, the Kinderhymne. Brecht believed that von Fallersleben’s piece was beyond redemption since it had been used by the Nazis. The Kinderhymne is Ramelow’s suggestion for a new song for Germany’s special occasions. 

“The Kinderhyme lyrics are wonderful,” Ramelow said. “From the passage about a better Germany blooming, we can find a German national anthem which we can all sing together with joy.”

Video credit: Constantart / YouTube.com

Ramelow says Germany should vote on its flag

Alongside his anthem update, Ramelow suggested that Germany vote on swapping out its black, red and golden tricolour.

“I know that black, red, and gold represent the rejection of totalitarian structures. But many people are also uncomfortable with the national flag," he said.

Because of the country’s Nazi history, Germany’s current flag is unusually protected under the 1949 constitution, which states, “The federal flag shall be black, red and gold.”

“I would want to put all of this to a vote in accordance with Article 146, which states that the Basic Law shall cease to be valid as soon as a new constitution, freely decided upon by the German people, comes into force,” Ramelow explained.