GERMAN LYRICS

Land der Berge, Land am Strome,
Land der Äcker, Land der Dome,
Land der Hämmer, zukunftsreich.
Heimat bist du grosser Söhne,
Volk begnadet für das Schöne,
Vielgerühmtes Österreich,
Vielgerühmtes Österreich!

Heiss umfehdet, wild umstritten,
Liegst dem Erdteil du inmitten
Einem starken Herzen gleich.
Hast seit Frühen Ahnentagen
Hoher Sendung last getragen,
Vielgeprüftes Österreich, Vielgeprüftes Österreich.

Mutig in die neuen Zeiten,
Frei und gläubig sieh uns schreiten,
Arbeitsfroh und hoffnungsreich.
Einig lass in Brüderchören,
Vaterland, dir Treue schwören,
Vielgeliebtes Österreich, Vielgeliebtes Österreich.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION  

Land of mountains, land on the River,
Land of fields, land of spires,
Land of hammers, with a rich future,
You are the home of great sons,
A nation blessed by its sense of beauty,
Highly praised Austria, highly praised Austria.

Strongly fought for, fiercely contested,
You are in the centre of the Continent
Like a strong heart,
You have born since the earliest days
The burden of a high mission
Much tried Austria, much tried Austria.

Watch us striding free and believing,
With courage, into new eras,
Working cheerfully and full of hope,
In fraternal chorus let us take in unity
The oath of allegiance to you, our country,
Our much beloved Austria, our much beloved Austria.


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Austria
"Bundeshymne" (Federal Hymn)

Words by:Paula von Preradovic
Music by:Johann Holzer or Wolfgang Mozart
Adopted:1947

On 9 April 1946, the Austrian Federal Government announced a competition for
the text of a new national anthem. It was to be "a song of hymn-like character
paying tribute in words and music to the new Austrian federal state and its
people both at home and abroad." The old anthem melody, now being used by
Germany, could not be used because of its association with the Nazi regime.

Agreement was soon reached on the melody; popular belief is that it is a work
from Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but studies have shown this may
not be the case. While the piece appears in Mozart's "Kleiner Freimaurer-
Kantate", written in 1791 for the freemason lodge "Zur neu gekronten Hoffnung"
in Vienna, in which Mozart himself was a member, the original score of the
work, which is kept by the Vienna Society of Friends of the Music, does not
include the melody used as the anthem. But when the lodge published a printed
version a year later, the melody appears in the appendix, entitled "Zum Schluss
der Loge" ("On the end of lodge"), that is, it should be sung on the end of a
gathering, beginning with the words "Bruder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde"
("Brothers, give your hands for union"). In this version, it was frequently
used by choral societies and student's fraternities in Germany and Austria in
the 19th century, and became known as "Bundeslied" (Union Song). The appendixed
melody thus hasn't been proven or disproven to be written by Mozart, several
scholars claim it could have been written by Mozart's contemporary (and fellow
lodge member) Johann Holzer.

Minister of Education Felix Hurdes persuaded his mother, the writer - herself
the granddaughter of a Croatian national poet - to submit an entry for the
competition. However, she was busy working on a new novel, had little time to
spare for her entry, and Education Minister Hurdes had to jog her memory
several times. When her unaffected, affecting lines did finally reach the jury
- made up of literary figures, musicians and politicians - they awarded her
text the highest points. The text was never published in the official Legal
Gazette but appeared in the 22 March 1947 issue of the Die Presse newspaper.
Two weeks earlier the anthem had been played on the radio. It established its
popularity relatively fast, although the melody was considerably more complex
than that of the former anthem. When Education Minister Hurdes reported to the
cabinet on the outcome of the competition, the cabinet passed a motion - at the
instigation of the Federal President - that in the course of the State Treaty
negotiations Austria should insist that "Germany be prohibited from using the
Haydn_anthem because it is a long-standing Austrian cultural asset."

In the early 21st century, there was a proposal by Austria's Minister of
Women's Affairs to change the lyrics of the anthem (eliminating words and
phrases like "home of great sons", "fraternal", and "Vaterland" ("Fatherland"))
to make them more gender-inclusive, but the publishing house that owns the
copyright and the heirs of Mrs. Preradovic did not agree and this did not
occur.

Special thanks to:Jamie Woods, Alexander Ganse, Alexander Krischnig, and Jan
Scotland for some of this information and to Klaus Caussmacher for the sheet
music.

See also: Austria_(1920-1929), Austria_(1929-1938).
