The National Anthem of West Germany

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The first official anthem of West Germany, the "Hymne an Deutschland", remained without acceptance by the public, and therefore President Heuss and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer agreed in May 1952 to re-adopt "Lied der Deutschen" as the West German national anthem. It was declared that only the third verse, beginning with the words "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (Unity and Right and Liberty) should be used at official occasions, due to the many misinterpretations of the first verse, and because of the first verse's mention of former German borders, long lost in subsequent wars. The music was composed by Franz Joseph Haydn and words written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. It was in use until 1990.

The miniature sheet above features Joseph Haydn, issued by Mozambique in 2009, the 100th Anniversary of the composer

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