Heil dir, o Oldenburg

"Heil dir, o Oldenburg" (German: [ˈhaɪ̯l ˈdiːɐ̯ ˈoː ˈɔldn̩bʊrk]; lit. 'Hail thee, o Oldenburg'), is the city anthem of the City of Oldenburg, and in the past was the national anthem of the Grand Duchy, and after 1918, the Free State of Oldenburg.^[1]

The Grand Duchess Cecilia of Sweden composed the instrumentals in 1835.^[2] Theodor von Kobbe later wrote the original four-verse version in 1844,^[3] and it was adopted soon after.^[a] In contrast to most regional anthems of the time, it praised the country itself rather than the ruling house, save for the third line of the first verse, which was changed multiple times.

After the abolition of the monarchy, parts in praise to the former Grand Dukes were changed to reference the people.^[4] This version was used by the Free State of Oldenburg until its merge with the new province of Lower Saxony. It remains in use by the City of Oldenburg for events and such,^[5] though it is most commonly sung in a shortened three-verse version, excluding the third section.^[6][4]

Some verses focusing more heavily on the royals were later written:

Written by Westerstede poet Wilhelm Geiler in 1872:^[8]

After the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, though prior to the advent of National Socialism, the line heil deinem fürsten (hail your prince, used instead of Großherzog for Grand Duke) was changed to heil deinem führer (hail your leader).^[9] In 1980, this was changed by the Oldenburg Landschaft to heil deinem volke (hail your people).^[4]

In 2015, the Oldenburg Landschaft changed the line deutscher Männer kraft (German men's strength) to deutscher Menschen kraft (German People's strength).^[4]

a.^ No source as to when it was formally adopted.

b.^ Führer or Volke in some versions.

• Bayernhymne
• Heil dir im Siegerkranz