Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Swiss TV in German anthem blunder
Swiss television has made an embarrassing error during live coverage of the European Championship football match between Germany and Austria.
The national channel SRG ran subtitles to Germany's national anthem including the obsolete first verse - ignored since the fall of the Third Reich.
"Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" or "Germany, Germany above everything", was popular under the Nazi's rule.
Germany adopted the third verse as its anthem following unification in 1991.
The error was described as "inexcusable" by a spokesman for Swiss Text, a subsidiary of SRG, responsible for subtitling services.
According to an interview in the Swiss newspaper Blick, the spokesman said two young sports editors were at fault, and that the mistake was a result of poor research.
The national channel SRG ran subtitles to Germany's national anthem including the obsolete first verse - ignored since the fall of the Third Reich.
"Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" or "Germany, Germany above everything", was popular under the Nazi's rule.
Germany adopted the third verse as its anthem following unification in 1991.
The error was described as "inexcusable" by a spokesman for Swiss Text, a subsidiary of SRG, responsible for subtitling services.
According to an interview in the Swiss newspaper Blick, the spokesman said two young sports editors were at fault, and that the mistake was a result of poor research.
