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Bundeshymne der Republik Österreich
English: National Anthem of the Republic of Austria
Land der Berge, Land am Strome.jpg
Sheet music of the Austrian national anthem from the late 1940s, citing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the composer and utilizing the pre-2011 lyrics
National anthem of Austria
Also known as Land der Berge, Land am Strome
English: Land of the mountains, land by the river
Lyrics Paula von Preradović, 1947 (modified in 2012)
Music Disputed (possibly Johann Holzer [de]), 1791
Adopted 1946 (as instrumental)
1947 (with lyrics)

The national anthem of Austria (Austrian German: Bundeshymne der Republik Österreich), also known by its incipit "Land der Berge, Land am Strome" (pronounced [lant deːɐ̯ ˈbɛʁɡə lant ʔam ˈʃtʁoːmə]; Land of the mountains, land by the river), was adopted in 1946. The melody, originally attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart but now disputed among various composers (most probably by Johann Holzer [de]), was matched with a text by Paula von Preradović the following year.

History

Nineteen days before his death on 5 December 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his last complete work, the Freimaurerkantate, K. 623. In parts of the printed edition of this cantata there appeared the song K. 623a "Lasst uns mit geschlungnen Händen" ("Let us with joined hands"). To this melody the Austrian national anthem is sung. Today, Mozart's authorship is regarded as dubious and the song is attributed to Johann Holzer [de] (either solely or co-authored with Mozart) or Paul Wranitzky.

Before the World War II Anschluss, Austria's state anthem was "Sei gesegnet ohne Ende", set to the tune of Haydn's "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", the state anthem of imperial Austria since 1797. The current German national anthem "Deutschlandlied" uses the same tune, but with different words (it was also the co-national anthem of Germany during National Socialist rule). To avoid the association, and because singing it was banned for a time after the war, a new state anthem was created. The lyrics were written by Paula von Preradović, one of the few women to have written lyrics for a national anthem. On 22 October 1946, the song was officially declared Austria's national anthem, albeit without words. Lyrics were added in February 1947. On 1 January 2012, parts of the lyrics were changed to make the composition gender-neutral.

Attempts at gender-neutral language

Since the 1990s, several attempts have been made to modify the lyrics to use more gender-neutral language. In 2005, Women's Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) stated her objection to the words sons, fraternal and fatherland in the lyrics and proposed changes. Her proposal met strong resistance by Austria's largest newspaper, the Kronen Zeitung, and failed to gain support from the then coalition partner, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ).

In January 2010 Austrian pop singer Christina Stürmer presented a pop version of the hymn "Heimat bist du großer Söhne und Töchter" ("Thou art home to great sons and daughters") as part of a campaign by the Austrian federal ministry of education. She was sued for violation of copyright by the estate of Paula von Preradović but subsequently cleared by the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice who called it "a mere modernisation" and allowed the version to stand.

Since 1 January 2012 a few words in the state anthem are different from before. The text and notes of the state anthem were officially codified in the "Bundesgesetz über die Bundeshymne der Republik Österreich" (English: Federal act about the federal anthem of the Republic of Austria).

Lyrics

German original IPA transcription Poetic English translation

I
Land der Berge, Land am Strome,
Land der Äcker, Land der Dome,
Land der Hämmer, zukunftsreich!
Heimat großer Töchter und Söhne,
Volk, begnadet für das Schöne,
𝄆 Vielgerühmtes Österreich! 𝄇

II
Heiß umfehdet, wild umstritten,
Liegst dem Erdteil du inmitten
Einem starken Herzen gleich.
Hast seit frühen Ahnentagen
Hoher Sendung Last getragen,
𝄆 Vielgeprüftes Österreich. 𝄇

III
Mutig in die neuen Zeiten,
Frei und gläubig sieh uns schreiten,
Arbeitsfroh und hoffnungsreich.
Einig laß in Jubelchören,
Vaterland, dir Treue schwören.
𝄆 Vielgeliebtes Österreich. 𝄇

1
[lant dɐ ˈbɛɐ̯.gə lant am ˈʃtrɔ.mə]
[lant dɐ ˈɛ.kɐ lant dɐ ˈdɔ.mə]
[lant dɐ ˈhɛ.mɐ ˈt͡sʊ.kʊnft͡s.raɪ̯ç]
[ˈhaɪ̯.mat ˈgrɔ.sɐ ˈtœx.tɐ ʊnt zøː.nə]
[fɔlk ˈbɛg.na.dət fyːr das ˈʃøː.nə]
𝄆 [ˈfiːl.gɐ.yːm.təs ˈøːs.tɐ.raɪ̯ç] 𝄇

2
[haɪ̯s ˈuɱ.feː.dɛt vɪlt ˈum.striː.tn̩]
[ˈliːkst deːm ˈeːɐ̯.taɪ̯l dʊ ˈiːn.mɪ.tn̩]
[ˈaɪ̯.nəm ˈʃtar.kn̩ ˈhɛɐ̯.t͡sn̩ ˈglaɪ̯ç]
[hast zaɪ̯t ˈfryː.ən ˈaː.nən.ta.gən]
[ˈhoː.ɛɐ̯ ˈzɛn.dʊŋ last ˈgɛ.tra.gən]
𝄆 [ˈfiːl.gə.pryːf.təs ˈøː.stɐ.raɪ̯ç] 𝄇

3
[ˈmʊ.tɪç iːn diː ˈnoʏ̯.ən ˈt͡saɪ̯.tn̩]
[fraɪ̯ ʊnt ˈgloʏ̯.bɪç ziː ʊns ˈʃraɪ̯.tn̩]
[ˈar.baɪ̯t͡s.froː ʊnt ˈhɔf.nuːŋs.raɪ̯ç]
[ˈaɪ̯.nɪç las iːn ˈjʊ.bəl.køː.rən]
[ˈfaː.tɐ.lant diːr ˈtroʏ̯.ə ˈʃvøː.rən]
𝄆 [ˈfiːl.gə.liːp.təs ˈøː.stɐ.raɪ̯ç] 𝄇

I
Land of peaks, oh, land of rivers,
Land of fields, oh, land of steeples
Land of labours, future-bound!
Home thou art to prodigious kin,
Shining brighter than ever been
𝄆 Austria, of high praise! 𝄇

II
Bold if battered, ne'er torn nor tattered
Stands thou strong midst Europe fettered
For thee art pledges saith!
Since days long past, verily thou hast
Trials of heated temper pas't
𝄆 Austria, of true faith. 𝄇

III
Joyfully jaunting, future-bound,
As one nation, safe and sound,
In high spirits newly found!
All together now, in jubilation
To thee, we pledge with animation
𝄆 Austria, dearly loved! 𝄇

The original (pre-2012) lyrics had the line Heimat bist du großer Söhne (Home art thou to great sons) instead of Heimat großer Töchter und Söhne on first verse as well as Brüderchören (fraternal choirs) instead of Jubelchören (jolly choirs) in the third verse. The anthem is currently sung to the following melody:

<score sound="1"> << \new Voice="melody" \relative c { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"choir aahs" \tempo 4 = 78 \autoBeamOff \override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t  %\voiceOne \language "deutsch" \key f \major \time 3/4  % \override FirstVoice.DynamicText.direction = #UP c2^\f b4 a2 b8 [( c )] d2 c4 c8 [( b )] b4 r b2 a4 g2 a8 [( b )] c2 b4 b8 [( a )] a4 r h2 c4 d2 e4 f ( d ) h c2 r4 g2^\p a4 c ( b ) g a2 d8 b a4 g r g2 a4 c ( b ) g a2 d8 [( b )] a4 g r b2^\f a4 d2 c4 c8 [ ( b ] a4 ) g a2 r4 d2^\ff c4 e2 f8 [( c )] c [ ( b ] a4 ) g f2 r4 } \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" { Land der Ber -- ge, Land am Stro -- me, Land der Ä -- cker, Land der Do -- me, Land der Häm -- mer, zu -- kunfts -- reich! Hei -- mat gro -- ßer \set ignoreMelismata = ##t Töch -- ter und Söh -- ne, \unset ignoreMelismata Volk, be -- gna -- det für das Schö -- ne: viel -- ge -- rühm -- tes Ös -- ter -- reich. Viel -- ge -- rühm -- tes Ös -- ter -- reich. } >> </score>

Parody

The same evening after von Preradović learned that her lyrics were chosen for the national anthem, her sons, Otto and Fritz Molden [de], composed a satirical version of them.

Land der Erbsen, Land der Bohnen,
Land der vier Besatzungszonen,
Wir verkaufen dich im Schleich!
Und droben überm Hermannskogel
Flattert froh der Bundesvogel.
Vielgeliebtes Österreich!

Land of the peas, land of the beans,
Land of the four zones of occupation,
we sell thee on the black market!
And up there over the Hermannskogel
gladly the federal bird flutters.
Much beloved Austria!

According to media researcher Peter Diem [de], the first two of these lines were popular in the schools of Vienna in 1955.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Bundeshymne para niños

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