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Just as on many other occasions in his career, Haydn in composing "Gott erhalte" mined his mental store of folk songs, which he learned in childhood and perhaps also in field work during adult life. The particular folk source of "Gott erhalte" appears to be Croatian in origin. This link traces through the various versions of the tune that have since been collected by folk music scholars, and discusses how Haydn transformed and (in the opinion of many) exalted his source material. The tonic note in the high octave near the end, felt by Charles Rosen and others to be the climax of Haydn's melody, appears in none of the folk originals.
Haydn's patriotism appears to have been unsophisticated and fully sincere. During his frail and sickly old age (1802-1809), Haydn often would struggle to the piano to play his song, often with great feeling, as a form of consolation in his long illness.
Long after the composer's death, his melody was used as the tune of Fallersleben's Das Lied der Deutschen (1841), whose text begins "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"; see the Wikipedia article just cited for full details concerning this setting. The tune has also been used as a hymn in English, to lyrics by John Newton which begin "Glorious things of thee are spoken/Zion, city of our God." 1, 2
There has also been uses of the tune in classical music. Shortly after finishing his melody, Haydn used it as the basis for the second movement (a theme and variations) of his famous string quartet opus 76 no. 3, the "Emperor" Quartet (1797). Tchaikovsky arranged the work for orchestra in 1876.Composition
Later uses of the tune