The lyrics of the German national anthem were written by the poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841. The music was composed earlier, in 1797, by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the poem "Das Lied der Deutschen" ("The Song of the Germans") during a stay on the island of Helgoland, and it was set to Haydn's melody, which was originally composed as an anthem for Emperor Francis II.
The anthem's famous line "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" ("Unity and Justice and Freedom") comes from Hoffmann von Fallersleben's lyrics, and only the third stanza of his poem is used as the current German national anthem.