Dievs, svētī Latviju

Dievs, svētī Latviju
Title in German	God bless Latvia
country	Latvia
Usage period	from November 18, 1918
text	Kārlis Baumanis
melody	Kārlis Baumanis
Audio files

Dievs, svētī Latviju (“God bless Latvia!”) Is Latvia's national anthem .

background

Dievs, svētī Latviju appeared around 1870, at the time of the national awakening and the young Latvians . Text and music are by Kārlis Baumanis (1835–1905).

Kārlis Baumanis was the first Latvian composer who dared to use the word "Latvija" (Latvia) in a song. This was a new term created during the National Awakening movement to denote all areas inhabited by Latvians.

The word "Latvija" was interpreted as a demand for national independence, which the Russian Empire did not like. The word "Latvija" in the title and text of the song was banned and had to be replaced by the more general term "Baltija" ( Baltic States ).

The song was sung for the first time during the first song festival in June 1873 in Riga.

On November 18, 1918 (Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia) Dievs, svētī Latviju became the Latvian national anthem, but only attained official status on June 7, 1920 by a corresponding decision of the Constituent Assembly of Latvia.

During the existence of the Latvian SSR as part of the Soviet Union between 1940 and 1990, this song was also banned and was only sung in public again during the demonstrations of the Singing Revolution .

text

Dievs, svētī Latviju,
Mūs' dārgo tēviju,
Svētī jel Latviju,
Ak, svētī jel to!

Kur latvju meitas zied,
Kur latvju dēli dzied,
Laid mums tur laimē diet,
Mūs' Latvijā!

translation

God bless Latvia,
our dear fatherland,
bless Latvia,
oh, bless it!

Where Latvia's daughters bloom,
Where Latvia's sons sing,
Let's dance in happiness there,
In our Latvia!

Web links

Audio stream of the national anthem of Latvia MPEG-Audio ( Layer 3 )

Footnotes

↑ Guntis Šmidchens: The power of song. Nonviolent national culture in the Baltic singing revolution . University of Washington Press, Seattle 2014, ISBN 978-0-295-99310-2 .

[1] Guntis Šmidchens: The power of song. Nonviolent national culture in the Baltic singing revolution . University of Washington Press, Seattle 2014, ISBN 978-0-295-99310-2 .