"HORST WESSEL."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 185, 6 August 1936, Page 9

"HORST WESSEL."

ORIGIN OF ANTHEM. CHANGED NATIONAL TUNES. POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE. (By CECIL W. LUSTY.) The changes in Europe since the Great War have been amazing, and with them have come new national anthems, or adjuncts to the anthems, that are not without political significance. Thus in the cablegram news from Germany the Nazi marching song "Horst Wessel Lied" is as common as the official "Deutschland über Alles"; in Italy the Fascist "Giovinezza" has replaced the "Marcia Reale"; and post-war republics, as Spain and Turkey, have adopted new official anthems. The "Deutschland," which was played at the opening of the Olympic Games, Berlin, has been the national anthem of Germany since the establishment of the republic. The composer, August Heinrich Hoffmann, was a German poet and revolutionary hero of 1848. The melody is not strange to English ears, as it is used in some expressions of various church hymns, such as "Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him." When in Germany I seldom heard the rather stately "Deutschland," save as a closing tune for wireless programmes. The more militant "Horst Wessel" is also played over the air, but I heard it most frequently in the streets of Berlin and the other German cities. The tide of people in the Unter <len Linden, Berlin, will be at flood when a brass band will burst into the blaring, yet arresting, march, and all stop to raise hands in Nazi salute. The song is the creation of a young National-Socialist revolutionary, Horst Wessel, who in 1930 was shot dead by Communists, it is presumed, at *he door of his Berlin home. The story his life has been published and a dio adaptation frequently broadcast. ,u Oermany. Wessel conceived his song'

when marching with Storm Troopers through Berlin. The route passed the Communist headquarters in the Bulowplatz, and the troops had been ordered, if attacked, "to close the ranks." Theme of Nazi Song. Accordingly, the song is based, in effect, on that phrase. The first verse counsels closing the ranks, and tells of souls of comrades dead marching in ranks assailed by Reds, the second verse that expectant millions are raising their eyes to the swastika, the third that the Hitler flag will flutter everywhere, and the fourth repeats the first. The "Marcia Reale," which is still played in Italy, was the sole national anthem until the Fascists gained control in 1922. The "Giovinezza," whieli is often mentioned in the overseas news when Mussolini is addressing the people, is the triumphal hymn of the National Fascist party. The original was composed as early as 1909, as homage to the infant Fascist movement, and, as such, was sung by Italian troops in the war.

In memory of its author, Nino Oxilia, who was killed at the front, it was adopted by the Black Shirts on th.? occasion of the historic march on Rome in 1922. With the substitution of verses more appropriate to present Fascisti ideals, the "Giovinezza" has become the "Marseillaise" of the Fourth Italy.

The Spanish patriotic anthem, "Marcha Real," was abolished with the monarchy and was replaced by a more revolutionary tune, "Himno de Riego." The hymn, which is rather peculiarly appropriate to the present crisis in Spain, resuscitates the memory of Colonel Rafael Riego, leader of mutinous soldiers at Cadiz who helped to promote a revolt against King Ferdinand in 1820. The Spanish radio stations close with this stirring refrain. The Turkish Anthem. The Turkis'h "March of Independence" is a hymn adopted by the republican National Government, following a local competition for a suitable anthem. The musician Zeki Bey, who shared the prize with a poet, Mehmet Akif Bey, was a year or two back appointed director of the private orchestra of Mustapha Ivemal, President of Turkey.

Another post-war national anthem is to be found in the Pilsudski refrain in Poland, although the republic still lias the late eighteenth century "Dabrow.ki Mazurka," with its theme "Poland ; s

Not Lost for Ever." I found that official circles and the broadcasting stations laid more stress on the modern anthem, while opponents of the party of the late Pilsudski regime admit (in secret) only of the "Mazurka." Yugoslavia, however, is a post-war kingdom whose national anthem, "God of Justice," dates back to 1870, being the finale to a two-act play, "Prince Marco's Sword." The official text of the national anthem comprises the first part of each of the Serbian, Croatian and Slovene anthems. The anthem is usually played at Yugoslav gatherings in Auckland.