Kevin Collins

Professor Raymond

10/12/17

Flag of My Origin

My mothers side of the family originated from Germany. While my mom was born in

Virginia, both of her parents (my grandparents) were born in Germany. For my writing prompt, I

will be researching Germanys flag, national anthem, and the process of becoming a citizen.

Germanys flag is a tricolor of black, red, and yellow. The flag is divided into 3 vertical

bars, with black on the top, red in the middle, and yellow on the bottom. In 1919, the tricolor

became the official flag of the Weimar Republic. However, when Hitler took the power in 1933,

it was abolished and replaced by Nazi swastika. Shortly after the defeat in the World War II, the

tricolor was re-adopted as the flag of modern Germany (www.firefly). being amidst a world war,

and being the main part of it, it was difficult for Germany to focus and control their flag. During

the World War, Hitler took over and created the Nazi flag for Germany. It was pretty impossible

to stand up against that, but after the war, the flag was brought back to its normal look.

Germanys National Anthem is very unique. It was composed by Joseph Haydn and was

first performed in 1797 to honor Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who would later become the

emperor of Austria (Deutsche). It wasnt until 1922 when the "Lied der Deutschen" was

officially declared the national anthem of the Weimar Republic (Deutsche). Once the World War

began, Hitler made his mark. After Hitlers rise to power in the 1930s, the Nazi regime misused

the first verse "Deutschland ber alles" to emphasize what they saw as Germany's superiority to

all other nations (Deutsche). Many citizens didnt like this even to the point where Allies
prohibited the singing out the verse. After the World War, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer

requested to reintroduce the song as the national anthem of West Germany and said only the

third verse would be sung. In 1991, a year after reunification, all of Germany then adopted the

third stanza of the "Song of Germany" as its unified anthem (Deutsche). Today the German

national anthem consists of just the third verse.

Becoming a citizen in Germany is just like any country, complicated. Its a long process

just like any other country would be. The general requirements for these permits are that you

have adequate German skills, can support yourself financially, have health insurance and have no

criminal record (Anderson). To become a naturalized citizen, you will have to have live in

Germany under a limited residence permit for at least eight years (Anderson). After that, its

pretty much up to you as a person. Can you speak German well? Do you have an established job

with steady income? Can you keep a clean criminal record? All of these questions and many

more all analyze if you are a qualified German citizen.

 Works Cited

Anderson, Emma. How to Get German Citizenship (or Just Stay Forever). The Local, The
Local, 24 June 2016, www.thelocal.de/20160624/how-to-apply-for-germancitizenship-
brexit-eu-referendum-uk.

Deutsche, Welle. Germany's National Anthem: A Song with a Tricky Past | Germany | DW |
16.08.2017. DW.COM, 16 Aug. 17ADAD, www.dw.com/en/germanys-national-anthem-
a-song-with-a-tricky-past/a-40102655.

www.fireflymedia.cz. Flag of Germany. Germany | Flags of Countries, flagpedia.net/germany.