, Columnist
Why Germany Won't Have a Gender-Neutral Anthem
Austria and Canada did it. But Germany has a different set of challenges to deal with.
Timing is everything.
Photographer: Carsten Koall/Getty ImagesNational anthems are meant to make everyone feel included, which is why Austria and Canada tweaked parts excluding women. But some lines between tradition and modern society are harder to cross than others. Not all countries are ready to take the gender-neutral plunge, fearing the political risks too great in an era of bitterly divided politics.
Last week, Kristin Rose-Moehring, the German Family Ministry official responsible for gender equality, proposed two changes to the lyrics of the national anthem -- the last remaining verse of August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben's Deutschlandlied, written in 1841 to Joseph Haydn's earlier hymn to Holy Roman Emperor Francis II.