Land der Berge, Land am Strome
Land der Berge, Land am Strome (Land of the mountains, land on the river) is the national anthem of Austria. Nineteen days before his death on December 5, 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his last complete work, the “Freimaurerkantate”, KV 623. In parts of the edition of this cantata there appeared the “Chain Song” KV623A. To this melody the Austrian National Anthem is sung. The lyrics were written by the writer Paula von Preradović. On October 22, 1946 it was declared Austria’s official national anthem. In 2005, Women’s Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat stated her objection to the words ‘sons’, ‘fraternal’ and ‘Fatherland’ in the lyrics and proposed changes.[1] However, this was quickly dismissed as a news-item in times of little other news.[citation needed] It is said that, the same evening after Paula von Preradovic learned that her lyrics were chosen for the national anthem, her sons, Otto and Fritz Molden, composed a satirical version of the anthem. The Hermannskogel is the highest
