Kingdom of Bavaria (1805–1918) “Königsstrophe/Bayernhymne“

The melody of the song was written by Max Kunz in 1835. The text for the original first three stanzas was written by Michael Öchsner. Both men were members of the Bürger-Sänger-Zunft München (Citizen-Singers-Guild Munich), that first performed the song on December 15, 1860. In 1946, the poet Joseph Maria Lutz wrote a new third stanza as a replacement for the Königsstrophe (King’s Stanza), since after the abdication of King Ludwig III in 1918, Bavaria has been without a king. He also replaced the Deutsche Erde (German soil) in the first stanza with Heimaterde (native soil).