... as far as German tongue is spoken
it rings to heaven, God betoken . . .

? . . .

I thought I'd see what came up with the 'conventional' verse first... foiled again

... Germany is not Prussia, Bavaria, blah blah blah, "sondern alles Land zusammen „soweit die deutsche Zunge klingt“ und man „deutsche Lieder singt“’

As far as people yak in German
And heaven sings the song of Hermann

(... might be a little too avant garde?)

As far as German language rings
And the divine in heaven sings

(... might a bit more like the expected?)

Wonder what the Swiss and Austrians think about this...

Yup, was thinking along the lines of 'rings' So it sounds OK to you as well?

Translated as: Wherever you hear the German tongue / God's in his Heaven and sings His song! 47. Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, ...
www.michaelorgan.org.au/novara13.htm

WOW! All the way from Australia. Congrats!

I love all those versions. Just for completeness' sake - other translations are available on

http://www.german.leeds.ac.uk/img/campus/NEWI...
http://www.archive.org/stream/poetrygermany00...
http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/german-lyri...
http://books.google.com/books?id=43NAeOIo36oC...

All to be taken with a grain of salt.