The many candidates for authorship include John Bull (c. 1562–1628), Thomas Ravenscroft (c. 1583–c. The lyrics, which were attached to the music in 1841, were written by a German poet called Hoffmann von Fallersleben. 1633), Henry Purcell (c. 1639–95), and Henry Carey (c. 1687–1743). Germany Germans Stop Humming, Start Singing National Anthem. It's been called too republican and was misused by the Nazis. Very few countries have a national anthem written by a world-renowned composer. Although Germany had been proclaimed a Republic on 9th November 1918 upon its defeat in World War I, it needed nearly four years until the “Deutschlandlied” was declared the new national anthem by the social democratic President Friedrich Ebert on August 11th, 1922, although it was used on state occasions in the intervening years. Better read on then. Exceptions include Germany, whose anthem "Das Lied der Deutschen" uses a melody written by Joseph Haydn, and Austria, whose national anthem "Land der Berge, Land am Strome" is sometimes credited to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The lyrics come from the Defence of Fort M'Henry , a poem written on September 14, 1814, by the then 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812 . Only the third stanza of Fallersleben’s poem is now used as Germany’s official anthem, and will be used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Music How Germany's national anthem withstood 175 years of political change. The melody was written by Joseph Haydn in 1796-97. The origin of both the words and the music is obscure. God Save the Queen, also called (during a kingship) God Save the King, British royal and national anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner " is the national anthem of the United States . Want to impress with your German skills when singing the national anthem? Germany Germany's national anthem: A song with a tricky past. The German national anthem consists only of the third stanza of the Deutschlandlied by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1841). Most national anthems are at least a little politically incorrect by today's standards, and Germany's is no worse than other countries'.