Bundeshymne, österreichische

Federal Anthem, Austrian (National Anthem), product of a competition in 1946 after the rebirth of the Austrian state. The text was written by P. v. Preradović, the melody was taken from the Masonic anthem "Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde" which was long attributed to W. A. Mozart; the federal anthem was officially introduced on February 25, 1947. The forerunner of the federal anthem was the imperial anthem (Kaiserhymne); it was suggested by patriotic motives during the crisis of the French Revolution and the coalition wars; this anthem was composed by J. Haydn to a text by L. L. Haschka, and was sung for the first time on February 12, 1797. After the death of Emperor Franz I the melody remained unchanged; the text varied (from 1835 to 1848 a text by J. C. Zedlitz was used, in 1848 the old text was reintroduced). In 1854 the text by J. G. Seidl ("Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze") was introduced; it was used until the end of the monarchy and no longer mentioned the name of the Emperor. The anthem of the First Republic, written by W. Kienzl and K. Renner ("Deutsch-Österreich, du herrliches Land") in 1920, was not accepted because of its difficult melody and also since the text by Kernstock ("Sei gesegnet ohne Ende"), which was sung to the melody of the old anthem written by Haydn, became very popular (in 1929 the Haydn anthem became the official federal anthem).

Literature: F. Grasberger, Die Hymnen Österreichs, 1968.