Everlasting melody for secular and ecclesiastical hymns of praise
On February 12, 1797, the melody to which the Germans sing their national anthem was heard for the first time. It originated as a song of praise to Austria’s Emperor Franz, but gained fame far beyond the Alps.
By Michael Althaus (KNA) | Hamburg – 12.02.2022
“God save Franz the Emperor, our good Emperor Franz!” – with this text, the melody to which the Germans sing their national anthem today was heard for the first time in 1797. At that time, the song of praise was for Emperor Franz (1768-1835), who at the time was the last ruler of the crumbling Holy Roman Empire. A few years later he founded the Austrian Empire, which he was to rule as Franz I until his death.
The song goes back to an idea of the Austrian politician Count Franz von Saurau. At a time when the Habsburg Empire saw itself threatened by the ideas of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s striving for power, he wanted to help the monarchy regain its strength. Saurau commissioned the writer Lorenz Leopold Haschka to compose the text and Joseph Haydn with the composition of the melody. Haschka borrowed from the British anthem “God save the King”, which stands for a strong monarchy like no other. Also Haydn processed influences from England, where he had just spent a longer stay.
On February 12, 1797, the new imperial anthem was premiered in Vienna’s Burgtheater on the occasion of Emperor Franz’s birthday and delighted the people. The ruler was also satisfied with the composition and made a gift Haydn as thanks a box with the imperial picture.
Own verse for Sisi
In the following decades, the hymn text was always adapted to the reigning regent. “Blessings to Austria’s noble son, our Emperor Ferdinand!”, it was said, for example, under Ferdinand I (1793-1875). And Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) was honored with the lines “God preserve, God protect our Emperor, our country!” honored. In this version, a separate verse was dedicated to his beloved wife Elisabeth – and this is how the song can also be heard in the famous Sissi films.
After the fall of the Austrian Empire in 1918, the anthem had lost its original function, but continued to stand for the national pride of the Alpine country. Now the Germans have chosen the tune as their national anthem – accompanied by a text by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. As early as 1841, the poet had written the three-stanza “Song of the Germans” to the well-known melody.
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The third stanza of the Song of the Germans by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben.
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When the anthem was officially proclaimed in 1922, Reich President Friedrich Ebert particularly emphasized the third stanza “Unity and justice and freedom”. The National Socialists, on the other hand, later sang only the first verse “Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles” and followed it with the SA song “Raise the flags, the ranks firmly closed”. In 1952, the Federal Republic of Germany returned to the third stanza.
Haydn’s fondness for his own melody
In the meantime, from 1929 onwards, the Austrians also sang the national anthem of their republic “Be blessed without end”. Haydn-Melody. After the Second World War, however, they consciously decided against this music because it was too reminiscent of the tyranny of the National Socialists. At that time they chose “Land der Berge, Land am Strome” to a melody attributed to Mozart as their national anthem.
Haydn himself had a great fondness for his melody. He worked them into a string quartet the same year they were composed, which later received the nickname “Imperial Quartet”. Even as an old, frail man, he tormented himself to his piano in order to play the song for “consolation” and “enhancement”. “I feel very good when I play it, and for a while afterwards,” the composer once revealed.
Church hymns also sound with the melody
The melody was underlined over time with numerous other texts. For example, the English hymns “Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken” and “Praise the Lord! O Heav’ns adore Him” are sung to her to this day. The Latin hymn “Tantum ergo” is also occasionally sung with her.
In Austria, the imperial anthem is still heard today – mostly with the text “God preserve, God protect” – on ceremonial occasions in honor of the Habsburg family. In 2011, for example, she was heard in Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the requiem for Otto von Habsburg, the son of the last Austrian emperor.
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By Michael Althaus (KNA)
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