The Pledge of Allegiance in German

You want to learn the Pledge of Allegiance in German? Well, there are a couple of options and I’ll teach them both to you today. 

Option #1

Ich schwöre Treue auf die Fahne der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika und die Republik, für die sie steht, eine Nation unter Gott, unteilbar, mit Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit für jeden.

Option #2

Ich gelobe Treue der Fahne der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika und der Republik, für die sie steht, eine Nation unter Gott, unteilbar, mit Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit für alle.

Changes to the Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance has undergone a few changes over the years. The original version looked like this.

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

In 1923 we made a few slight modifications. Instead of “to my flag”, it became “to the Flag of the United States of America”.

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

In 1954 Congress decided to add “under God” to the Pledge. This is the form that is currently said in schools across America every morning.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Learn German with the Pledge of Allegiance in German

Since students recite it in many schools across the country, many German teachers have started using this as a learning opportunity. They are not required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They are merely encouraged to do so. German teachers see it as an opportunity to practice German pronunciation.

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in German has many advantages for pronunciation purposes. I’ll explain using the first option, as it is more popular. The slowed recitation of the Pledge allows for students to really concentrate on the pronunciation. The pauses allow them to collect their thoughts and prepare for the next part.

It uses all four cases in a short amount of time. “Ich” is in the nominative case. “Treue” is in the accusative case, although it isn’t particularly helpful, as there is no article. “die Fahne” is also in the accusative case, as indicated with the article “die”. This also shows a great example of a two-way preposition. We use the accusative case, as we are pledging “Treue” in the direction of the flag and republic, which makes it a change of location. You use the accusative case in the two uses of “für”. “Für” is an accusative preposition. Therefore we use “die” and “jeden”.

You use the dative case after the prepositions “von” and “mit”. You also use it with the two-way preposition “unter”. None of these uses, however, show the case with an article. The genitive case is only used once. “der Vereinigsten Staaten” is the genitive plural form of “die Vereinigten Staaten”.

One of Herr Antrim’s oldest videos is also the Pledge of Allegiance in German. Take a trip down memory lane with Herr Antrim’s post about 50,000 subscribers here.