Deutschösterreich, du herrliches Land (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 for "German Austria, you wonderful country") was the national anthem

National anthem

A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...

 of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 from 1920 to 1929. Although it was used as the national anthem, it did not enjoy any official status.

The text was written by Chancellor Karl Renner

Karl Renner

Karl Renner was an Austrian politician. He was born in Untertannowitz in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and died in Vienna...

 in 1920, while the melody was composed by Wilhelm Kienzl

Wilhelm Kienzl

Wilhelm Kienzl was an Austrian composer.-Biography:Kienzl was born in the small, picturesque Upper Austrian town of Waizenkirchen. His family moved to the Styrian capital of Graz in 1860, where he studied the violin under Ignaz Uhl, piano under Johann Buwa, and composition from 1872 under the...

.

The Republic of German Austria

German Austria

Republic of German Austria was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, without the Kingdom of Hungary, which in 1918 had become the Hungarian Democratic Republic.German...

 was formed in 1918 as the successor to the multinational Austro-Hungarian Empire in its predominantly German speaking part. The government and population was much in favour of a unification with Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the German nation-state that had been formed in 1871 but had excluded Austria. However, the victors of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 demanded that Austria remained a separate country. In the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

, there was a prohibition of unification. Under the provisions of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), German Austria had to change its name to simply Austria.

Text of the song

1. Deutschösterreich, du herrliches Land, wir lieben dich!

Hoch von der Alm unterm Gletscherdom

Stürzen die Wasser zum Donaustrom:

Tränken im Hochland Hirten und Lämmer,

Treiben am Absturz Mühlen und Hämmer,

Grüßen viel Dörfer, viel Städte und ziehn

Jauchzend zum Ziel, unserm einzigen Wien!

Du herrliches Land, unser Heimatland,

Wir lieben dich, wir schirmen dich.

2. Deutschösterreich, du tüchtiges Volk, wir lieben dich!

Hart ist dein Boden und karg dein Brot,

Stark doch macht dich und klug die Not.

Seelen, die gleich wie Berge beständig,

Sinne, die gleich wie Wasser lebendig,

Herzen so sonnig, mitteilsamer Gunst,

Schaffen sich selber ihr Glück, ihre Kunst.

Du tüchtiges Volk, unser Muttervolk,

Wir lieben dich, wir schirmen dich.

3. Deutschösterreich, du treusinnig Volk, wir lieben dich!

Dienende Treu schuf dir Not und Reu,

Sei uns in Freiheit dir selber treu!

Gibt es ein Schlachtfeld rings in den Reichen,

Wo deiner Söhne Knochen nicht bleichen?

Endlich brachst du die Ketten entzwei,

Diene dir selber, sei dein! Sei frei!

Du treusinnig Volk, unser Duldervolk,

Wir lieben dich, wir schirmen dich.

4. Deutschösterreich, du Bergländerbund, wir lieben dich!

Frei durch die Tat und vereint durch Wahl,

eins durch Geschick und durch Blut zumal.

Einig auf ewig, Ostalpenlande!

Treu unserm Volkstum, treu dem Verbande!

Friede dem Freund, doch dem Feinde, der droht,

Wehrhaften Trotz in Kampf und Not!

Du Bergländerbund, unser Ostalpenbund,

Wir lieben dich, wir schirmen dich.

English Translation

1. German Austria, you wonderful land, we do love you!

High over alp, beneath glacier dome

Waters stream freely to Danube-flow:

They give drink to lambs and shepherds in highland,

At the falls they drive mills and hammers,

Greet many villages, many towns and stretch

Rejoicing to the aim, our unique Vienna!

You wonderful land, our native land,

We do love you, we stand for you.

2. German Austria, your people of skills, we do love you!

Your ground is hard and your bread is scarce,

However need makes you clever and strong.

Soles, that like mountains are stable,

Feelings, that like water are live,

Hearts so radiant, full of benevolence

Create themselves their happiness, their art.

Your people of skills, our native people,

We do love you, we stand for you.

3. German Austria, your people of sense, we do love you!
Need and remorse has stood you in good stead ...
Be now in freedom true to yourself!
Is a battlefield anywhere in the realm,
Where bones of your sons haven’t appeared white?
Eventually you’ve broken down the chains.
Be on your own, be yours! Be free!
Your people of sense, our sufferer people,
We do love you, we stand for you.

4. German Austria, league of mountains lands, we do love you!
Free through the deed and united through choice,
One through the fate and especially through blood.
Welded for ever, land of East Alps!
Faithful to Union and to our people!
Peace to the friend, and to the threatening foe,
Defensive persistence in battle and need!
Your mountainous land, our East Alps land,
We do love you, we stand for you.