Austria

Words by: Karl Renner
Music by: Wilhelm Kienzl
Adopted: 1920

After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary as a reult of World War I in 1918, Austria became a republic. The anthem of the new republic was created in 1920 and adopted that year. The lyrics were written by the first federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria Karl Renner – a man of wide-ranging literary interests with a weakness for poetry. He asked his friend, the composer Wilhelm Kienzl, to set it to music. However, the Rennerr-Kienzl anthem never achieved popularity and was replaced in 1929.

Special thanks to: Pavel Zinovatny for some of this information as well as the lyrics and music file.

See also: Austria-Hungary, Austria (1929-1938), Austria (1947-).