Horst-Wessel-Lied

The Horst-Wessel-Lied is identified in the accompanying note as the source of a cited line and as the anthem of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party from 1930 to 1945. The note situates the song through its association with Horst Wessel and the political movement that adopted it as an anthem.

Origin and Association

The note dates the song’s writing to 1927 and attributes it to Horst Wessel, a Berlin commander of the Sturmabteilung (SA). It records that Wessel was murdered in 1930 by Albrecht Höhler, a member of the Communist Party of Germany.

Reference in the Text

The cited material refers to a line from the song but does not reproduce its wording. Its identification as a party anthem gives the reference a specific political context: the song became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party’s anthem in 1930, the year Wessel was murdered.