The phrase "Deutschland über alles" translates to "Germany above all" or more fully "Germany above everything" or "Germany above all else in the world." It originally appeared in the first stanza of the "Deutschlandlied" ("Song of the Germans"), written in 1841 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. The phrase was intended to express the idea that loyalty to a unified Germany should come before loyalty to the individual German states, which were fragmented at the time
. However, the phrase's meaning has been heavily influenced by historical context. During the Nazi regime, "Deutschland über alles" was used to promote German racial superiority and nationalism, which has since made the phrase controversial and sensitive in modern Germany. After World War II, only the third stanza of the "Deutschlandlied," which emphasizes unity, justice, and freedom, is used as the national anthem, and the first stanza containing "Deutschland über alles" is generally avoided in public
. In summary, "Deutschland über alles" originally meant "Germany above everything else" as a call for national unity, but due to its misuse during the Nazi era, it is now viewed as a chauvinistic slogan and is no longer part of the official anthem or commonly used in Germany
