Nazi songs

Nazi songs deals with songs that were written for the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany.

Some songs which are much older than the post-World War I Nazi movement, and which were used by the Nazis, are often confused with Nazi songs; this observation applies above all to Das Lied der Deutschen, which was written in 1841. It was made the national anthem of democratic Germany in 1922, but after 1930 the Nazis commonly appended the Horst-Wessel-Lied to it. Also, the song Die Wacht am Rhein, which was made famous by a scene in the 1943 movie Casablanca, was at that time almost 100 years old.

In the modern Federal Republic of Germany, the public singing or performing of songs identified exclusively with Nazi Germany is illegal (§86a Strafgesetzbuch) and can be punished with up to 3 years of imprisonment.

The Horst-Wessel-Lied, also known as Die Fahne Hoch, was the official anthem of the NSDAP. The song was written by Horst Wessel, a Nazi activist and SA leader, who was killed by a member of the Communist Party of Germany and subsequently considered a martyr by his National Socialist comrades.

The song is currently banned in Germany and Austria for public performance (the lyrics and even just the melody) but is permitted for educational purposes.

Es zittern die morschen Knochen "The rotten bones are trembling" by Hans Baumann was, after the Horst-Wessel-Lied, one of the most famous Nazi songs. It was the official song of the Hitler Youth.

The original song's refrain (1932) was "Denn heute, da gehört uns Deutschland und morgen die ganze Welt" (for today, Germany is ours and tomorrow, the whole world). In a later version (1937) this was mitigated for the Hitler Youth to "Denn heute da hört uns Deutschland..", meaning "For today, Germany hears us...". Note: the audio refrain in the reference can easily be heard to be "Denn heute ERHÖRT uns Deutschland, und morgen die ganzen Welt." The words "da hört" cannot be heard in the audio refrain.

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