plain? Where mountain-sons bright metal gain? Ah, no, no, no! His fatherland's not bounded so! Where is the German's fatherland? Then name, oh, name the mighty land! Wherever is heard the German tongue, And German hymns to God are sung! This is the land, thy Hermann's land; This, German, is thy fatherland Background information: German Ernst Arndt wrote this poem in 1813. In it, he refers to different geographical areas, such as Swabia in southeastern Germany. According to the poet, what defines Germany as a nation? wherever the Rhine River flows the areas of Prussia, Swabia, and Bavaria wherever German peasants work the land wherever German is spoken and German culture is practiced