Lower Austrian national anthem

The Lower Austrian national anthem O Heimat, dich zu liebe dich was decided on December 12, 1965 by the Lower Austrian state parliament during a ceremony to commemorate the first state parliament meeting after the Second World War .

The text comes from Franz Karl Ginzkey , the melody from Ludwig van Beethoven , who composed it as a federal song for choir and six wind instruments to be sung in a convivial circle (Op. 122).

History of the Anthem

Ginzkey's song has been sung on various occasions since 1948 to a melody by the Geras canon P. Milo Offenberger.

Even before the Second World War, since 1932, attempts were made to create a state anthem for Lower Austria. A competition was announced between 1937 and 1938, Offenberger submitted his melody with a text by St. Pölten's Monsignor P. Josef Wagner. It won first prize, but it was never introduced as a national anthem.

In 1961, for the first time after the war, efforts were made to introduce a state anthem when the Lower Austrian state school board wanted to publish a school song book. Unlike the first time, there should be no competition this time, but the proposals should be drawn up by a commission. In 1963, the first decision was made in favor of Beethoven's melody, the text of Offenberger's Heimatlied was rejected as an artificial folk song . When looking for a suitable text, Ginzkey's lines were ultimately used. Not only did the lyrics go well with the melody, they were also familiar.

Text of the hymn

Beginning of the Lower Austrian national anthem on the benches of the Max-Schubert-Warte

O home, to love you,
faithful in happiness and adversity.
It is written in the heart
as the innermost commandment.
We sing your ways,
which are like you in beauty,
and we want to praise you,
my Lower Austria.

In the rustle of your forests,
in your mountains shine,
in the waves of your fields
, we belong entirely to you.
In the roar of the machines,
in the
hard work at the same time, we strive to serve you,
my Lower Austria.

True to the spirit of the ancestors,
we make our bread
and hold high the flags
blue-gold and red-white-red.
When they blow in the wind,
rich in serious warnings, it
is important to stand by you,
my Lower Austria.

melody

See also

List of German-language regional anthems

Web links

• Regional studies: Lower Austrian national anthem (website for the Province of Lower Austria)
• Beethoven's setting of Goethe's In all good hours ( MID ; 38 kB)
• National anthem on AEIOU