The Bayernhymne (Hymn of Bavaria) is the official

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany.

History

The melody of the song was written by Max Kunz in 1835. The text for the original first three stanzas was written by Michael Öchsner. Both men were members of the Bürger-Sänger-Zunft München (Citizen-Singers-Guild Munich), that first performed the song on December 15, 1860. In 1946, the poet Joseph Maria Lutz wrote a new third stanza as a replacement for the ''Königsstrophe'' (King’s Stanza), since after the

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...

of King Ludwig III in 1918, Bavaria has been without a king. He also replaced the '' Deutsche Erde'' (German soil) in the first stanza with ''Heimaterde'' (native soil). In 1946, it was also officially recognised as the national anthem of Bavaria, and on July 29, 1966, the then

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of Bavaria, Alfons Goppel, chose the version written by Joseph Maria Lutz to be the official version. In 1980, the Bavarian minister-president Franz Josef Strauß changed the official version to contain just the first two stanzas and switched ''Heimaterde'' back to ''Deutsche Erde'', though the ''Heimaterde'' version is still widely used (for example, it was sung during the visit of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

to his native Bavaria in 2006, who also joined in singing this version). The song, like most national anthems, contains many symbolic representations, including repeated allusions to the colours white and blue, Bavaria’s

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become well ...

, especially describing Bavaria's ''Himmel'', which can refer to both

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

and

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. The march Bayerischer Defiliermarsch is often played along the hymn.

Current version

(According to the bulletin of the Bavarian prime minister on July 18, 1980.)

Variations

Version by Joseph Maria Lutz from 1946

Michael Öchsner’s 1860 Poem

Later Text from Michael Öchsner

References

External links

Official site of the Bavarian Parliament
(in German)
Official site of the Bavarian Government
(in German, includes audio) {{Authority control German anthems Regional songs Historical national anthems Culture of Bavaria German patriotic songs Songs about Germany Compositions in A major