Vaterland
Vaterland is the German term for the fatherland of the Germans. It is also used in Austria, Switzerland and in other German language regions of Europe.
Contents
History
Definition of fatherland
Fatherland is the nation of one's "fathers", "forefathers" or "patriarchs". It can be viewed as a nationalist concept, insofar as it relates to nations. The term "fatherland" refers to an anthropomorphized conception of certain countries. "Motherland" is another common term like this. "Fatherland" is a translation of Latin "patria" (from "patris" meaning "father"), which is related to words like "patriotic" (love of one's fatherland or homeland), etc. Most typically, "fatherland" is used in a context referring to Germany. In German "Vaterland" means "fatherland"; however, since World War II this term has developed National Socialist connotations, so it is now avoided by germanophobic, semitophile media and politicians.
- There was a period when the term “fatherland” was used in Old English. Emerged in the 1200s, the word predates “motherland,” which came into use in the 1500s. Derived from the Latin word “patria,” “fatherland” implies heritage, tradition, government and order, whereas “motherland” suggests nurturing and a place of birth. While the male image of the country calls for patriotism and loyalty, the female metaphor evokes a sense of belonging and love. Besides English, the word “motherland” is widely used in languages with Latin roots, such as French, Spanish and Romanian. Even though Russian embraces the female image of one’s nationality “Mother Russia,” the language doesn’t have a word that translates to “motherland” literally. “Fatherland,” on the other hand, exists universally in Germanic and Slavic languages. German, Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish and Czech all see their home country as a male. In German, “Vaterland” refers to one’s nationality, whereas “Mutterland,” when in use, indicates an object’s (or food, sport, music, etc.) origin. Other than the fatherland-motherland binary, there are also gender-neutral expressions that widely exist around the world. Modern English speakers today are very used to the word “homeland.” Once with a focus on “domestic” as opposed to “foreign,” the word now has adopted the definition of “motherland” and is used more often than the other two in the recent years. In Asian languages historically influenced by Chinese, “motherland” coexists with “ancestral land,” a name derived from a culture where seniority surpasses gender and senior females borrow power from the patriarchs they marry. Prior to “ancestral land,” and before the existence of other civilizations or the concept of nation-states were even acknowledged, the territory was referred to as “the central land.” In the discussion under an Instagram post where a map visually shows how each culture addresses their home countries basing on votes, “our land,” “mother fatherland” and “grandfather-land” were also nominated.[1]
English usage and National Socialist connotations
Assuming a specific National Socialist usage of the term "Vaterland" (which in fact never existed), the direct English translation "fatherland" featured in news reports associated with National Socialist Germany and in domestic anti-German propaganda during World War II. As a result, within germanophobic circles the English word is now associated with the National Socialist government of Germany not used often in post-World War II English unless one wishes to invoke the National Socialists, or one is translating literally from a foreign language where that language's equivalent of "fatherland" does not bear National Socialist connotations. The word motherland in modern English carries similar associations with the Soviet Union.
Prior to the Third Reich, however, the term was used throughout Germanic language countries without negative connotations (e.g. in Hermann Broch's novel The Sleepwalkers), or often to refer to their homelands much as the word "motherland" does. For example, "Wien Neêrlands Bloed", national anthem of the Netherlands between 1815 and 1932, makes extensive and conspicuous use of the parallel Dutch word. In most European countries it is still the norm to use the term "fatherland" and many would be offended if it was in any way compared with National Socialism.
Quotes
- "The last four addresses answered the question: what is the German in opposition to other peoples of Teutonic descent? This line of argument in support of our inquiry as a whole will be completed if we further add the examination of the question: what is a people? This latter question is identical with, and at the same time helps to answer, another question, often raised and resolved in very different ways: what is love of fatherland? Or, as one might more accurately express oneself: what is the love of the individual for his nation? If we have thus far proceeded aright in the course of our inquiry, then it must be evident that only the German – the original man whose spirit has not become dead in some arbitrary organisation – truly has a people and is entitled to reckon on one; that only he is capable of real and rational love for his nation. The following observation, which at first seems to have no connection with the foregoing, will set us on the way to solving our appointed task. Religion, as we had cause to remark already in our third address, is quite able to transport us beyond all time, and beyond the present, sensuous life, without the least injury to the justness [Rechtlichkeit], morality and sanctity of the life seized by this faith." – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, in: Reden an die deutsche Nation, 1808
- "Germany is the totality of all Germans who feel German, think German, and want to be German: each and every one of us is a traitor if he does not, in this insight, consider himself personally responsible for the existence, the happiness, the future of the fatherland at every moment of his life; each and every one of us is a hero and liberator if he does so." – Paul Anton Bötticher (1827–1891), theologian, cultural philosopher and orientalist, in his 1875 book Über die gegenwärtige Lage des deutschen Reichs – Ein Bericht
