HOFFMANN VON FALLERSLEBEN, AUGUST HEINRICH

born April 2, 1798, Fallersleben, near Braunschweig, Hanover died Jan. 19, 1874, Corvey Castle, near Hxter, Ger. German patriotic poet, philologist, and literary historian whose poem Deutschland, Deutschland ber alles was adopted as the German national anthem after World War I. (See Deutschlandlied.) His uncomplicated and attractive verses, expressing his deep love of country and strong fellow feeling, were of great significance to the German student movement. Having studied at the universities of Gttingen and Bonn, he was custodian of the university library at Breslau (182338). He became extraordinary professor of German language and literature there in 1830 and ordinary professor in 1835 but was removed by the Prussian authorities in 1842 for his Unpolitische Lieder (184041; Nonpolitical Songs), which was interpreted, despite its title, as political. He was allowed to return after the Revolution of 1848. In 1860 he was appointed librarian to the Duke of Ratibor at Corvey Castle. Hoffmann was among the earliest and most effective of the poets who prepared the way for the revolutionary movement of 1848. He also composed melodies for many of his songs, which were sung throughout Germany. His patriotic poem Deutschland, Deutschland ber alles, written in 1841, is typical in its expression of popular feelingthe wish for national unity felt by German liberals of the period. In the first line the word Deutschland was repeated to fit Joseph Haydn's tune, which the latter had composed in 1797 as an Austrian imperial anthem. The third verse of the song, Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit (Unity and Justice and Freedom), continued to be sung as the national anthem after World War II in West Germany. As a student of ancient Germanic literature, Hoffmann ranks among the most persevering and cultivated of German scholars. His Deutsche Philologie im Grundriss (1836; Outline of German Philology) made a valuable contribution to philological research.