The anthem, officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen" (meaning "The Song of the Germans"), has been the German national anthem since 1922. The music for the anthem was composed in 1797 as the hymn "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser," with its politically charged lyrics having been written in 1841.
However, while the song has, ostensibly, stayed in use, it has been tweaked slightly throughout time.
The song has three verses, with the first focusing on Germany as a glorious and powerful nation. This emphasized by the repeated phrase "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt!" (Germany, Germany above all, Above all in the world!).
The second verse reflected on German wine, women and song, though some critics have called it sexist, while the third verse focused on the liberal values of unity, justice and freedom for the German people.
Since 1952, it was only this third verse that was used as part of the national anthem. But under the rule of the Nazis, only the first verse was used, and to this day it remains intrinsically associated with the Nazis.
And it was this first verse that NPO used as subtitles at the Euro 2020 game.
"This is a mistake by one of our subtitlers," NPO tweeted, according to the Mirror. "We apologize to viewers who were disturbed by this."
The Netherlands and Germany are fierce soccer rivals, but they are not the first to accidentally use the first verse.
According to the UK daily the Telegraph, back in 2017, a soloist at a Fed Cup tennis match in Hawaii had accidentally performed the first verse. In 2009, British singer Pete Doherty sung the first verse at a festival in Munich, causing him to get booed off the stage. And in 2008, a Swiss broadcaster not only accidentally used these subtitles during a Euro 2008 soccer match, but they had invited fans to sing along with it.
Since World War II, Germany has banned the use of Nazi symbols, and it is a commonly held belief that singing the first verse of the anthem is similarly illegal. However, while this is not true and is just a misconception, the first verse remains highly controversial.This was also not the only controversy to befall the England-Germany Euro 2020 series. As Germany lost the match, the TV closed in on a young girl in the audience who was hugging her father while crying. This was met with severe ridicule from thousands of English soccer fans, who, after already having booed the German anthem earlier, took to social media to insult her, some even calling her a Nazi.In response, a GoFundMe campaign was started to raise money for her, titled "We're raising £500 to Show this little German supporter that not everyone in the UK is horrible." At the time of writing, it has already raised £7,308, meeting its goal by 1461%. The organizer of the campaign notes on the page, though, that "I don't know who the girl is (yet) but I know social media can sort that out."