http://www.dw.com/en/could-germany-get-a-gender-neutral-national-anthem/a-42823170
Could Germany get a gender-neutral national anthem?
Germany's equality commissioner has reportedly proposed altering Germany's national anthem to make it more gender inclusive. The revision would seek to replace the words "Fatherland" and "brotherly."
Following the example of Austria and Canada, a German official has now proposed revising the national anthem in favor of gender-neutral phrases, according to a report on Sunday.
Rose-Möhring said the change would fit well with the new "Heimat" branch of the Interior Ministry
Kristin Rose-Möhring, the equal opportunity commissioner for Germany's Family Ministry, proposed the changes in a letter sent to ministry staff, the German weekly Bild am Sonntag reported.
Read more: Germany's national anthem: A song with a tricky past
Rose-Möhring recommended swapping out the term "Fatherland" with the word "Heimatland" — a term that roughly translates to "homeland."
The phrase "brotherly with heart and hand" should also be changed to read "courageously with heart and hand," Rose-Möhring reportedly wrote.
In early February, Canada approved changes to its national anthem to remove gender-specific terms, while Austria made the change in 2012.
Watch video 00:52
The German Basic Law: equality
Anthem would match to new 'homeland' ministry
Rose-Möhring, a politician with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), said the proposal would not only make the anthem more inclusive, it would also fit with the newly-restructured interior ministry.
"Why don't we make our national anthem ... gender sensitive," Rose-Möhring reportedly wrote in the letter. "It wouldn't hurt, would it? And it fits with the new federal ministry for interior, construction and homeland."
SPD members voted in favor of a coalition deal with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on Sunday, meaning the SPD will retain the family ministry. The Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) will take over the interior ministry, which will now also focus on "homeland" concerns.
Read more: A deeper look at Germany's new Interior and Heimat Ministry
Social media users draft own anthems
Predictably, news of Rose-Möhring's proposal sparked a heated debate on social media, with some arguing that the move could eliminate other gender-specific words like "mother tongue," while others supported the proposal.
Stefan Möller, the spokesman for the Thuringia state branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) wrote on Twitter: "When women with double last names want to misappropriate a masterpiece like the national anthem, hopefully I'm not the only one getting angry."
Others proposed their own revisions to the anthem to include the gay community, as well.
"Openness and multiculturalism/ for the colorful homeland!/ Towards these let us all strive/ loving and tolerant!/ Openness and multiculturalism/ are the foundation of queerness/ flourish in the radiance of this queerness/ flourish, colorful homeland!" wrote Twitter user "Frea von Wegen."
Anthem's tricky history
Portions of the "Deutschlandlied" or "Song of Germany" have been Germany's national anthem since 1922, although after World War II and the fall of the Nazi regime, only the third stanza has been used.
The original text was penned by German poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841. The song has been Germany's national anthem since 1922, although Germany officially shortened the anthem to only the third stanza in 1991.
The controversial first stanza "Germany, Germany above all else" originally stemmed from efforts to unify the disparate German principalities in the 19th century. However, the Nazis affinity for the first stanza and the historical connotations it carries makes it highly controversial in Germany.
As many defenders of the original anthem text pointed out on Twitter on Sunday, the anthem's second stanza already favorably mentions women twice — albeit only in a refrain praising "German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song."
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...czar-pens-gender-neutral-anthem-idUSKBN1GG0MC
'Fatherland' no more, German equality czar pens gender neutral anthem
Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Members of German government and parliament stand as they sing the national anthem during a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, November 7, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
Kristin Rose-Moehring, equality commissioner since 2001, made the proposal to strike male-specific references from the anthem in a letter to staff at Germany’s family ministry ahead of International Women’s Day, German media reported on Sunday.
Germany should replace“Vaterland”, or fatherland, with“Heimatland,” or homeland, and substitute“courageously with heart and hand” for“brotherly with heart and hand”, she wrote.
The proposal surfaced hours before Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) announced that 66 percent of its members backed a re-run of the coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives that has ruled Germany since 2013.
The SPD is slated to retain the family ministry in the new government, while Horst Seehofer, leader of the CSU Bavarian conservatives, will head an expanded interior ministry that will also focus on“Heimat” or homeland.
Rose-Moehring said her proposal suits the times.
FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron listen to national anthems during a ceremony at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo
“Why don’t we make our national anthem ... gender sensitive,” Rose-Moehring wrote.“It wouldn’t hurt, would it? And it fits with the new federal ministry for interior, construction and homeland.”
Parts of the“Song of Germany” have been the German anthem since 1922, although since the creation of the modern federal republic, only the third stanza has been used. It begins with the words“unity and justice and freedom”.
FILE PHOTO: 2016 Rio Paralympics - Wheelchair Basketball - Final - Women's Gold Medal Final - Germany v USA - Rio Olympic Arena - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 16/09/2016. Players of Germany at the front of their national flag listens to national anthem before the match. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
The first stanza, with its words“Germany, Germany above all else” - which stemmed from efforts to unify Germany in the 19th century - and the second, with its refrain of“Germany women, German loyalty, German wine and German song” were officially dropped from the anthem in 1991 following reunification.
The equality commissioner, who successfully sued her own ministry in 2012 after three top ministry posts were given to male candidates without consulting her, triggered scornful reactions on Twitter, especially from the far right.
“Completely over the top, and not even an April Fool’s joke,” tweeted a branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Another said:“If that happens, I want to change (the phrase)‘mother tongue’ too.”
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Alexander Smith
https://www.rt.com/news/420454-germany-gender-neutral-anthem/
German anthem may soon go gender neutral
Published time: 5 Mar, 2018 04:55 Edited time: 5 Mar, 2018 06:40
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FILE PHOTO: Soccer fans sing the national anthem © Tobias Schwarz
TrendsGermany news
The equality commissioner at the Family Ministry, Kristin Rose-Moehring, has called for the lyrics of Germany's national anthem to become more inclusive, German media reported Sunday, citing her letter sent to the ministry employees. Rose-Moehring reportedly wants to replace ‘Vaterland’ (Fatherland) with ‘Heimatland’ (Homeland), and replace the line ‘brotherly with heart and hand’ to ‘courageous with heart and hand.’
"Why don't we change our national anthem, the Deutschlandlied?" the commissioner reportedly wrote. "It wouldn't hurt, would it? And it fits with the new federal ministry for interior, construction and homeland." The proposal came as the Social Democrats members announced they backed the coalition with Angela Merkel’s CDU party, clearing the way for a new government.
Read more
‘Sons’ vs ‘all of us’: Canada’s anthem is now ‘gender-neutral’
In the meantime, rewording the lyrics didn’t seem like an urgent task to some politicians. “I could think of other topics that would be more important to women than changing the national anthem,” the CDU leader in Rhineland-Palatinate, Julia Klockner, tweeted.
Gotz Fromming of the right-wing AfD party called the proposal “presumptuous and uncultured.”“One cannot and should not simply change poetry,” he tweeted.
In the letter, Rose-Moehring referred to the example of neighboring Austria, which changed its anthem in 2012. In place of just “sons,” the lyrics now read “sons and daughters,” and “jubilant choirs” instead of “fraternal choirs.”
Most recently, ‘O Canada’ had a makeover after the Canadian Senate approved to amend the line: “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”
The German anthem lyrics, authored by poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben and adopted in 1922, were cut down to the third stanza only after WWII and the end of Nazi rule. While the original first stanza opened with the now-infamous line "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (Germany above all), the second began with praise to German wine and women. The remaining, somewhat more tame bit, praises unity, justice and freedom.
Could Germany get a gender-neutral national anthem?
Germany's equality commissioner has reportedly proposed altering Germany's national anthem to make it more gender inclusive. The revision would seek to replace the words "Fatherland" and "brotherly."
Following the example of Austria and Canada, a German official has now proposed revising the national anthem in favor of gender-neutral phrases, according to a report on Sunday.
Rose-Möhring said the change would fit well with the new "Heimat" branch of the Interior Ministry
Kristin Rose-Möhring, the equal opportunity commissioner for Germany's Family Ministry, proposed the changes in a letter sent to ministry staff, the German weekly Bild am Sonntag reported.
Read more: Germany's national anthem: A song with a tricky past
Rose-Möhring recommended swapping out the term "Fatherland" with the word "Heimatland" — a term that roughly translates to "homeland."
The phrase "brotherly with heart and hand" should also be changed to read "courageously with heart and hand," Rose-Möhring reportedly wrote.
In early February, Canada approved changes to its national anthem to remove gender-specific terms, while Austria made the change in 2012.
Watch video 00:52
The German Basic Law: equality
Anthem would match to new 'homeland' ministry
Rose-Möhring, a politician with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), said the proposal would not only make the anthem more inclusive, it would also fit with the newly-restructured interior ministry.
"Why don't we make our national anthem ... gender sensitive," Rose-Möhring reportedly wrote in the letter. "It wouldn't hurt, would it? And it fits with the new federal ministry for interior, construction and homeland."
SPD members voted in favor of a coalition deal with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on Sunday, meaning the SPD will retain the family ministry. The Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) will take over the interior ministry, which will now also focus on "homeland" concerns.
Read more: A deeper look at Germany's new Interior and Heimat Ministry
Social media users draft own anthems
Predictably, news of Rose-Möhring's proposal sparked a heated debate on social media, with some arguing that the move could eliminate other gender-specific words like "mother tongue," while others supported the proposal.
Stefan Möller, the spokesman for the Thuringia state branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) wrote on Twitter: "When women with double last names want to misappropriate a masterpiece like the national anthem, hopefully I'm not the only one getting angry."
Others proposed their own revisions to the anthem to include the gay community, as well.
"Openness and multiculturalism/ for the colorful homeland!/ Towards these let us all strive/ loving and tolerant!/ Openness and multiculturalism/ are the foundation of queerness/ flourish in the radiance of this queerness/ flourish, colorful homeland!" wrote Twitter user "Frea von Wegen."
Anthem's tricky history
Portions of the "Deutschlandlied" or "Song of Germany" have been Germany's national anthem since 1922, although after World War II and the fall of the Nazi regime, only the third stanza has been used.
The original text was penned by German poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841. The song has been Germany's national anthem since 1922, although Germany officially shortened the anthem to only the third stanza in 1991.
The controversial first stanza "Germany, Germany above all else" originally stemmed from efforts to unify the disparate German principalities in the 19th century. However, the Nazis affinity for the first stanza and the historical connotations it carries makes it highly controversial in Germany.
As many defenders of the original anthem text pointed out on Twitter on Sunday, the anthem's second stanza already favorably mentions women twice — albeit only in a refrain praising "German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song."
Watch video 03:31
Inequality: Female business founders
DW recommends
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...czar-pens-gender-neutral-anthem-idUSKBN1GG0MC
'Fatherland' no more, German equality czar pens gender neutral anthem
Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Members of German government and parliament stand as they sing the national anthem during a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, November 7, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
Kristin Rose-Moehring, equality commissioner since 2001, made the proposal to strike male-specific references from the anthem in a letter to staff at Germany’s family ministry ahead of International Women’s Day, German media reported on Sunday.
Germany should replace“Vaterland”, or fatherland, with“Heimatland,” or homeland, and substitute“courageously with heart and hand” for“brotherly with heart and hand”, she wrote.
The proposal surfaced hours before Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) announced that 66 percent of its members backed a re-run of the coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives that has ruled Germany since 2013.
The SPD is slated to retain the family ministry in the new government, while Horst Seehofer, leader of the CSU Bavarian conservatives, will head an expanded interior ministry that will also focus on“Heimat” or homeland.
Rose-Moehring said her proposal suits the times.
FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron listen to national anthems during a ceremony at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo
“Why don’t we make our national anthem ... gender sensitive,” Rose-Moehring wrote.“It wouldn’t hurt, would it? And it fits with the new federal ministry for interior, construction and homeland.”
Parts of the“Song of Germany” have been the German anthem since 1922, although since the creation of the modern federal republic, only the third stanza has been used. It begins with the words“unity and justice and freedom”.
FILE PHOTO: 2016 Rio Paralympics - Wheelchair Basketball - Final - Women's Gold Medal Final - Germany v USA - Rio Olympic Arena - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 16/09/2016. Players of Germany at the front of their national flag listens to national anthem before the match. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
The first stanza, with its words“Germany, Germany above all else” - which stemmed from efforts to unify Germany in the 19th century - and the second, with its refrain of“Germany women, German loyalty, German wine and German song” were officially dropped from the anthem in 1991 following reunification.
The equality commissioner, who successfully sued her own ministry in 2012 after three top ministry posts were given to male candidates without consulting her, triggered scornful reactions on Twitter, especially from the far right.
“Completely over the top, and not even an April Fool’s joke,” tweeted a branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Another said:“If that happens, I want to change (the phrase)‘mother tongue’ too.”
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Alexander Smith
https://www.rt.com/news/420454-germany-gender-neutral-anthem/
German anthem may soon go gender neutral
Published time: 5 Mar, 2018 04:55 Edited time: 5 Mar, 2018 06:40
Get short URL
FILE PHOTO: Soccer fans sing the national anthem © Tobias Schwarz
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TrendsGermany news
The equality commissioner at the Family Ministry, Kristin Rose-Moehring, has called for the lyrics of Germany's national anthem to become more inclusive, German media reported Sunday, citing her letter sent to the ministry employees. Rose-Moehring reportedly wants to replace ‘Vaterland’ (Fatherland) with ‘Heimatland’ (Homeland), and replace the line ‘brotherly with heart and hand’ to ‘courageous with heart and hand.’
"Why don't we change our national anthem, the Deutschlandlied?" the commissioner reportedly wrote. "It wouldn't hurt, would it? And it fits with the new federal ministry for interior, construction and homeland." The proposal came as the Social Democrats members announced they backed the coalition with Angela Merkel’s CDU party, clearing the way for a new government.
Read more
‘Sons’ vs ‘all of us’: Canada’s anthem is now ‘gender-neutral’ In the meantime, rewording the lyrics didn’t seem like an urgent task to some politicians. “I could think of other topics that would be more important to women than changing the national anthem,” the CDU leader in Rhineland-Palatinate, Julia Klockner, tweeted.
Gotz Fromming of the right-wing AfD party called the proposal “presumptuous and uncultured.”“One cannot and should not simply change poetry,” he tweeted.
In the letter, Rose-Moehring referred to the example of neighboring Austria, which changed its anthem in 2012. In place of just “sons,” the lyrics now read “sons and daughters,” and “jubilant choirs” instead of “fraternal choirs.”
Most recently, ‘O Canada’ had a makeover after the Canadian Senate approved to amend the line: “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”
The German anthem lyrics, authored by poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben and adopted in 1922, were cut down to the third stanza only after WWII and the end of Nazi rule. While the original first stanza opened with the now-infamous line "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (Germany above all), the second began with praise to German wine and women. The remaining, somewhat more tame bit, praises unity, justice and freedom.
