Germany's national anthem, which has been used since 1922, could be set for a gender-neutral makeover if the country's equalities commissioner has her way.
Speaking out on International Women's Day, Kristin Rose-Möhring said that she believed the words “fatherland” and “brotherly” should be cut from the anthem and replaced with "homeland" and "courageously".
However, the comments immediately caused some backlash from the country's far-right, with the Alternative for Germany party labelling the move “gender nonsense”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel also moved to quash the campaign by reportedly saying she was “very satisfied” with the current lyrics.
A spokesman for Ms Merkel added: “The chancellor is very happy with our nice national anthem as it is.”
In a letter addressed to staff at Germany's family ministry, Rose-Möhring wrote: “Why don’t we make our national anthem… gender sensitive. It wouldn’t hurt, would it?”
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party said: “Anthems are not written for the moment. I wouldn’t want our anthem to be changed just so it fits in with the zeitgeist.”
It wouldn't be the first time Germany’s national anthem has been altered, with the anthem's first stanza, which sang “Germany, Germany, above all else”, officially being dropped in 1991 because it was considered reminiscent of the Nazi era.
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