The NFL plays its second game this season in Frankfurt, Germany, with the New England Patriots taking on the Indianapolis Colts. Before the game kicks off, the national anthems for the United States and Germany will be played.
This is the second regular-season game played in Germany this year. Last week, the Chiefs defeated the Dolphins 21-14. In that game, they sang both the Star Spangled Banner and the German National Anthem.
Who Sang the Patriots vs. Colts National Anthem?
This morning, the American National Anthem was sung by U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Katherine Bolcar. She was then followed up by singer and songwriter Simona who did a beautiful rendition of the German National Anthem.
Simona with a beautiful rendition of the German National Anthem, but we really need to turn the closed captions off 🥴 pic.twitter.com/NFJrxFzm99
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 12, 2023
What Is the German National Anthem?
The German National Anthem is called “Song of Germany” and is also known as the “Deutschlandlied.” The song has taken on several roles, variations, and purposes since being created in the 1790s.
When first performed for Holy Roman Emperor Francis II’s birthday in 1796, the music was by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn and was known as “Emperor’s Hymn.” The music was Austria’s anthem until 1918, when the Austrian-Hungarian Empire fell.
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August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics as a poem in 1841 as a call to unify Germany. The song was adopted as the country’s national anthem in 1922, after World War I. The song remained the national anthem through World War II, but only the first stanza was used starting in the 1930s.
After World War II, Poet Johannes Robert Becher’s “Auferstanden aus Ruinen” (Risen from Ruins) was adopted as East Germany’s new anthem in 1949 and remained until 1990.
West Germany adopted Deutschlandlied in the 1950s but only used the third stanza, which focused on unifying Germany. Deutschlandlied’s third stanza became the national anthem in the 1990s when West and East Germany unified following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
What Other Games Are Played in Germany?
The NFL is back in Germany this week with the Patriots and Colts at Frankfurt Stadium. This will be the fifth and final game played outside the United States this season. There were three games played in London earlier in the year.
The Patriots are actually 3-0 in all of their international games so far, but their most recent was all the way back in 2017. However, at 2-7 on the season, New England is not the same team as they once were, especially now that Mac Jones has taken over instead of the legendary Tom Brady.
For Indianapolis, it has basically become a tale of two seasons. With Anthony Richardson taking over as QB to start the year, the Colts had a ton of promise and were competitive. With him out for the season with an injury, Gardner Minshew has struggled to keep this team afloat. However, at 4-5 on the year, they still have an outside chance of competing for the AFC South.
The league confirmed last month that Spain and Brazil are being considered to host an NFL regular-season game. Commissioner Roger Goodell said it was possible that the league could play in one of those locations as soon as next season.
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