Lyrics Paula von Preradović Adopted 1946 | Music Johann Holzer | |
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Land der Berge, Land am Strome ( [ˈlant dɐ ˈbɛɐ̯ˌgə ˈlant am ʃtrɔmə]; Land of mountains, land by the river [Danube]) is the national anthem of Austria.
Contents
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 (1753–1818). 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, it was declared Austria's official national anthem. On 1 January 2012, parts of the lyrics were changed to make the anthem gender-neutral.
Before the World War II Anschluss, Austria's anthem was Sei gesegnet ohne Ende, to the tune of Haydn's Gott erhalte, the anthem of imperial Austria since 1797. The Lied der Deutschen uses the same tune, but with different words, and was also the anthem of the Third Reich. To avoid the association, and because singing it was banned for a time after the war, a new anthem was created.
Lyrics
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) on third verse.
Parody
It is said that, the same evening after von Preradović learned that her lyrics were chosen for the national anthem, her sons, Otto and Fritz Molden, composed a satirical version of the anthem.
According to Peter Diem, who graduated in 1955, then the first two of these lines in the Viennese schools were popular.
Attempts of 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 from 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", Bildungshymne on YouTube) 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 who called it "a mere modernisation" and allowed the version to stand.
Since 1 January 2012 a few words in the anthem are different from before. The line "Heimat bist du großer Söhne" was replaced by (metrically not fitting) "Heimat großer Töchter und Söhne". As a result, the anthem became gender-neutral. Also, the anthem was officially codified in the "Bundesgesetz über die Bundeshymne der Republik Österreich" (engl. Federal Act about the Federal Anthem of the Austrian Republic"). So were its notes. Both the law and the notes can be seen here.