It's interesting that the original lyrics to Haydn's 1797 melody were "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" ("God save Francis the Emperor") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka. The "Deutschland über alles" lyrics were written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841. Germany became a united nation under the Kaiser in 1871, but the Empire's anthem was "Heil dir im Siegerkranz." "Deutschland über alles" became the anthem of the Weimar Republic in 1922.

Wikipedia says

During the Nazi era only the first stanza was used, followed by the SA song "Horst-Wessel-Lied". It was played at occasions of great national significance such as the opening of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin when Hitler and his entourage, along with Olympic officials, walked into the stadium amid a chorus of three thousand Germans singing "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles". In this way, the first verse became closely identified with the Nazi regime.

Looks like I have to close this thread for a while. -Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor-