![National Anthem: Poland - Mazurek Dąbrowskiego [REMASTERED] @IanBerwick](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N057iKYUj0c/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded May 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Polish national anthem was written in July 1797 in Reggio near Bolonia by Józef Wybicki, one of the organisers of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski’s Polish Army in Italy. The theme of the original poem was a novel idea in the era of the nation state (that is, most European nations were made up of eponymous nationalities), that the nation does not need a territory to be a nation, it only needs a group of people. This idea was a timely one, as Poland had only been partitioned out of existence only two years earlier. Several more times in subsequent Polish history would an independent Polish nation appear then disappear from the map, which could explain why the song resonates with Poles even today. The original poem also mentions several Polish war heroes of the time, as well as heroes of past Polish wars; also Napoleon is mentioned, as the commanding officer of Dąbrowski and as an example to be held up.
The Polish national anthem was written in July 1797 in Reggio near Bolonia by Józef Wybicki, one of the organisers of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski’s Polish Army in Italy. The theme of the original poem was a novel idea in the era of the nation state (that is, most European nations were made up of eponymous nationalities), that the nation does not need a territory to be a nation, it only needs a group of people. This idea was a timely one, as Poland had only been partitioned out of existence only two years earlier. Several more times in subsequent Polish history would an independent Polish nation appear then disappear from the map, which could explain why the song resonates with Poles even today. The original poem also mentions several Polish war heroes of the time, as well as heroes of past Polish wars; also Napoleon is mentioned, as the commanding officer of Dąbrowski and as an example to be held up.
![National Anthem: Poland - Mazurek Dąbrowskiego [REMASTERED]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N057iKYUj0c/mqdefault.jpg "National Anthem: Poland - Mazurek Dąbrowskiego [REMASTERED]
The Polish national anthem was written in July 1797 in Reggio near Bolonia by Józef Wybicki, one of the organisers of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski’s Polish Army in Italy. The theme of the original poem was a novel idea in the era of the nation state (that is, most European nations were made up of eponymous nationalities), that the nation does not need a territory to be a nation, it only needs a group of people. This idea was a timely one, as Poland had only been partitioned out of existence only two years earlier. Several more times in subsequent Polish history would an independent Polish nation appear then disappear from the map, which could explain why the song resonates with Poles even today. The original poem also mentions several Polish war heroes of the time, as well as heroes of past Polish wars; also Napoleon is mentioned, as the commanding officer of Dąbrowski and as an example to be held up.")
![National Anthem: Germany - Deutschlandlied [NEW VERSION]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P46fpud7gyU/mqdefault.jpg "National Anthem: Germany - Deutschlandlied [NEW VERSION]
The instrumental version of the national anthem of Germany.
Deutschlandlied, ( German: “Song of Germany”) official national anthem of Germany from 1922 to 1945, of West Germany from 1950 to 1990, and of reunified Germany from 1990.
The tune of the German national anthem was composed in 1796 by Austrian Joseph Haydn and was first performed in 1797 for the birthday of Holy Roman emperor Francis II; it was called “Kaiserhymne” (“Emperor’s Hymn”). Its first lines were “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Unsern guten Kaiser Franz!” (“God preserve Francis the Emperor, Our good Emperor Francis!”). Haydn further developed the theme in his string quartet known as the Emperor Quartet, Op. 76, No. 3. Although the lyrics changed with the names of the emperors, the tune remained in official use until Austria-Hungary collapsed in 1918.
Decades before that happened, however, the tune was adopted by nationalist poet and university professor August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben for use with a new set of lyrics that he wrote in August 1841, urging unity for the crazy quilt of German polities. Although Hoffmann’s song gained steadily in popularity, it did not gain official status until August 11, 1922, when the Weimar Republic adopted the song and its first verse as the German national anthem. It was retained as the anthem of Nazi Germany, along with the party anthem, the Horst Wessel Song. However, during the Nazi era those lyrics took on unfortunate connotations. What was originally intended in 1848 as a call to place the concept of a unified nation above regional differences—with geographic borders marking the extent to which culturally German settlers had spread—became reinterpreted as a justification for German expansionism and misinterpreted by some as a claim to German world hegemony. For this reason, it was banned for a while after World War II, but it was restored in 1951 by West Germany, using officially only the third verse. The song nevertheless remained a matter of controversy. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of the Berlin Wall, however, the reunification of Germany was effected in 1990, and in 1991 the third verse of the “Deutschlandlied” was declared the national anthem of the restored country.")
