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Zu Mantua in Banden (also known as the Andreas-Hofer-Lied) is one of the most popular folk songs and, since 1948, the official anthem of the current Austrian State of Tyrol, i.e. the Northern and Eastern part of the former County of Tyrol. The Landtag assembly of the Italian South Tyrol province in 2004 by majority has rejected its adoption with regard to the Italian-speaking minority. It is however, like the Bozner Bergsteigerlied, an unofficial anthem of the German-speaking community.
The lyrics were written by the German writer Julius Mosen in 1831, the German composer Leopold Knebelsberger melodized them in 1844. The song deals with the death of Andreas Hofer, an innkeeper by trade, who was the leader of the Tyrolean Rebellion against the French and Bavarian occupation during the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809. After Emperor Francis I of Austria had signed the Treaty of Schönbrunn, Hofer fought a losing battle. Betrayed and captured, he was executed by personal command of Napoleon at Mantua in Italy on 20 February 1810 by the French forces.
The song originating from the pre-1848 Vormärz era became popular in the course of the veneration of Andreas Hofer as a protagonist of the Pan-German movement in the Austrian lands, especially aimed against Italian irredentism. In recent years it has therefore become subject to increasing criticism. Nevertheless, having official status as a regional anthem since 1948, it is, since 1972, forbidden by law, with a fine of up to 2000 € possibly imposed, to sing parody versions of the song or to alter the lyrics otherwise in a way that might be insulting to the Tyrolean population.