Deutschlandlied

The Deutschlandlied is presented as Germany’s national anthem and as a recurring musical emblem of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Its appearances turn sporting ceremony into a public display of national power: first in the vast stadium at the Games’ opening, then along the rowing course at Grünau, where German victories repeatedly bring the crowd back to the song. The recurring refrain, “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,” makes the connection between athletic success and national exaltation explicit within the scenes.

Identity and Place in the Games

The song appears in a book that establishes how large and attentive the audience for collegiate rowing could be. In the 1920s and 1930s, the sport drew crowds and press coverage comparable to those of major American sports; the Poughkeepsie regatta could attract as many as 125,000 spectators in person. Western crews, meanwhile, were still contesting their standing against powerful Eastern programs and trying to win wider recognition. This sporting world gives the international Olympic stage particular weight: the races are athletic contests, but they also draw spectators, journalists, and national representatives into a public spectacle.

At the opening ceremony in Berlin, the Deutschlandlied follows the arrival of Adolf Hitler. After the orchestra plays the “Deutschlandlied,” with its refrain of “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,” the Nazi Party anthem follows. The sequence places the national song within a ceremony that combines music, political symbols, officials, and the massed crowd. It is not heard as incidental background; its position in the program helps make the spectacle’s national emphasis audible.

The Opening Ceremony

The song returns as the athletes parade into the stadium. Each team dips its flag before Hitler, while the manner of salute varies: some delegations give the Olympic salute, some the Nazi salute, and others gestures that lie ambiguously between them. The crowd’s response changes according to how closely each salute resembles the Nazi version. Against this unsettled display of allegiance, the Deutschlandlied is the music accompanying the arrival of the German athletes.

When the Germans emerge, the crowd’s response swells into a roar. Spectators rise and extend their arms in the Nazi salute, and the orchestra shifts abruptly to another rendition of the Deutschlandlied. The crowd sings along, while Hitler salutes the passing swastika flag and touches his heart as cameras record him. The song thus recurs at the moment when the ceremony’s attention gathers around the German team and its ruler. The contrast with the American delegation is pronounced: the Americans pass Hitler with their hats over their hearts and the Stars and Stripes held aloft, while the Germans’ entrance is accompanied by a mass salute and a renewed, louder performance of the national song.

At the Rowing Regatta

The same musical pattern reappears at Grünau. As the American rowers prepare in the shell house, the first race of the day ends with a German victory over the Swiss by eight seconds. The crowd’s chant of “Deutschland! Deutschland! Deutschland!” rises, and the Deutschlandlied follows, sung by tens of thousands of voices. A further roar and cries of “Sieg Heil!” accompany Adolf Hitler’s arrival at the regatta grounds. The song’s place between the sporting result and the political acclamation makes it part of the crowd’s response to victory, not merely a separate ceremonial interlude.

German crews then win gold in each of the first five races. After every victory, the Nazi flag rises in front of Haus West and the crowd sings “Deutschland über alles,” each time more loudly. The song becomes a repeated measure of the day’s accumulating momentum: one victory prompts another performance, and the growing volume makes the expected German sweep seem increasingly plausible. The book describes this excitement from the perspective of the Washington crew, who are preparing to race while hearing the celebrations gather around them.

The sequence is interrupted in the sixth race. The German double sculls lead until the final 250 meters, when the British pair Jack Beresford and Dick Southwood rally to win by almost six seconds. A hush falls over the course; in the shell house, George Pocock pauses while checking the Husky Clipper’s rigging and realizes that he is standing upright, listening to “God Save the King.” The episode does not erase the Deutschlandlied’s earlier dominance, but it supplies a sharp counterpoint: the German victories had repeatedly summoned song and crowd, whereas a British win briefly changes the sound to another national anthem and quiets the spectators.

Recurrence and Significance

Across the opening ceremony and the regatta, the Deutschlandlied binds separate occasions into a recurring public performance. In the stadium, it accompanies the German athletes’ entrance and the crowd’s salute; at Grünau, it follows German victories and grows louder as the results accumulate. The repeated pairing makes the song one of the means by which athletic outcomes are absorbed into the political spectacle of the Games.

Its significance in these scenes lies in that repetition and placement. The song is heard amid flags, salutes, Nazi officials, cheering crowds, and racing results; the narrative repeatedly shows it joining national music to visible demonstrations of political authority. At the same time, the Washington crew’s presence at the regatta keeps the sound connected to an unfolding competition rather than presenting it as ceremony alone. The anthem marks the crowd’s investment in German success, while the interruption after the British victory reveals how swiftly that collective response can fall away when the expected winner is beaten.