Des Deutschen Vaterland
Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland is a German nationalist song by Ernst Moritz Arndt which was popular in the 19th century.
History
In the text, Arndt asks the German question and answers it by demanding a Greater German nation-state comprising all German-speaking areas in Europe. The song was performed for the first time in Berlin in 1814.As the original tune did not become popular, Gustav Reichardt wrote a new melody in 1825. This new tune made the song very popular among the German population that desired the transformation of the German Confederation into a united empire, instead of the previous situation where there were multiple duchies and kingdoms.
Joachim Raff used Reichhardt's tune as a leitmotif in his symphony An das Vaterland.
In 1911, Emil Sembritzki, a German schoolteacher, wrote a song known as "Was ist des Deutschen Tochterland?", which used the 1825 tune and embraced German colonialism.