Pete Doherty Sorry for Singing Nazi Anthem in Germany
A sincere apology has been given by Pete Doherty after he sang the first verse of “Das Deutschlandlied”, which has been abandoned, during an appearance in Germany. After he performed the original first verse on Saturday during a live broadcast, the crowd booed him and became angered over the refrain. Then the radio broadcast cut it out just before it was aired, and Doherty was ushered from the stage after performing 5 more songs.
The songs original lyrics were written in 1841 by Hoffmann von Fallersleben. The first verse, “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” (Germany, Germany above all), was only used during the Nazi period and was dropped after the Third Reich fell. Then in 1990 after Germany was unified, they decided only the third verse would be used as the official national anthem, which begins (translated) “Unity and justice and liberty for the German fatherland”.
A spokeswoman for the singer/songwriter said that Doherty wanted to celebrate his performance in Munich by becoming one with the crowd, as he likes to do everywhere he goes. He didn’t know about the controversy around the German National anthem, the spokeswoman continued, and is deeply sorry for causing any offense. She then added that he is of Jewish descent, and fascism and racism is something that he feels strongly about.
Doherty isn’t the only singer to perform the song. Nico, who was German, also performed the song, but she did it intentionally, recording it on her “The End” album in 1974 and performing it at a number of live shows during its release.
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