TV Subtitles Accidentally Include Nazi Verse During German National Anthem At Euros Game

The Dutch public broadcaster has come under fire for incorrectly subtitling the German national anthem during Germany’s 2-0 loss to England with a Nazi-era verse.

Hard-of-hearing viewers may have raised an eyebrow when they tuned in to see Dutch national television station NPO 1’s coverage of the England-Germany game on Tuesday, 29th June.

During the singing of the German national anthem, the subtitles showed a controversial verse professing German supremacy, which was scrapped after the fall of the Third Reich.

TV channel NPO1 during the match England-Germany with subtitles on the anthem referenced to the Nazi era: “Germany above everything, above everything in the world”. (Newsflash)

The verse was permanently removed after Nazi Germany’s downfall in World War II, and of the original words, only the third stanza of the Deutschlandlied has since been sung as the German national anthem.

However, viewers tuning into NPO 1 for the Euro 2020 round-of-16 match would have seen the controversial couplet “Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles, Ueber alles in der Welt” on screen.

The lyric, composed by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841, translates as “Germany, Germany above all, Above all in the world”.

TV channel NPO1 during the match England-Germany with subtitles referenced to the Nazi era: “Germany above everything, above everything in the world”. (Newsflash)

The incorrect couplet was projected on screen when the German squad was actually singing “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit Fuer das deutsche Vaterland!”, which translates as “Unity and justice and freedom For the German fatherland!”

“Unity and Justice and Freedom” is now considered the unofficial national motto of Germany.

Following the blunder, NPO wrote in a statement: “During the live subtitles of the German national anthem at the European Championship match England-Germany, the wrong verse was displayed by mistake. This is a mistake by one of our subtitlers. We apologise to viewers who were disturbed by this.”