Quote:
Originally posted by Absynthe:
Germany, Germany above all,
above all in the World
I think I'm right with that, although it's been about fifteen years since I studied German...
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You are fairly correct with your translation, Absynthe, but that portion you translated needs some sort of interpretation as it is not quite as nationalistic as it sounds at first: From the German grammar one can easily see that "all" here means "everything" and NOT "everybody". (in which case it would have to be "allen" instead of "alles"). And the meaning of "everything" in this context explains itself from the German and European history of the 19th century (the lyrics of the anthem were written in the 1840s by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, an Austrian btw): the 19th century in Europe has been labelled the "era of nationalism" as all the peoples and ethnic groups who had not yet established their own nation states strived for doing exactly that. The two most prominent cases of such "belated" nations were Italy and Germany which up to 1859 and 1871 respectively were still made up of many independent principalities (which in the case of Italy were furthermore mostly governed by foreign dynasties like Austria-Hungary). So "Germany above everything" means that every good German patriot should strive first and foremost for the unification of all of Germany in one independent nation state.
A very interesting thread indeed, Kaz, but I beg to differ: I think that the reserved attitude of Germans towards patriotic symbols like anthems and flags is inevitable considering our history and the way those symbols and patriotic feelings in general were abused. And it might be a very German way of thinking - as a result of what I just mentioned - but I can simply not help it: anything related to patriotism anywhere in any country makes me first think of the dangers of patriotic feelings and of how narrow the line between healthy patriotism and dangerous nationalism ALWAYS is and has been instead of the positive energies for selfless and benevolent deeds it might help to mobilize. And I also think that even positive and non-presumptuous patriotic feelings are always very prone to be manipulated and abused. Like I said: my general skepticism towards the virtues of patriotism might very well be something very German and just a result of our national history and thus "unbalanced" ...
Thanks for bearing me out !
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So long !
R³ - proud to be the official spokesman for the most noble Lady Bilqis, Desert Rose of Ironworks
Btw, the cow is queuing in the slaughterhouse right now !
[This message has been edited by Ramon de Ramon y Ramon (edited 09-12-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Ramon de Ramon y Ramon (edited 09-12-2001).]