"" (; ) is one of the two

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

s of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

—the other being the royal anthem "

Kong Christian stod ved højen mast "Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" (; ), or simply "Kong Christian", is the unofficial royal anthem of Denmark that officially has equal status of national anthem together with "Der er et yndigt land". However, it is almost exclusively used ...

History

The lyrics were written in 1819 by Adam Oehlenschläger and bore the motto in (

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

: "This corner of the earth smiles for me more than any other"). The music was composed in 1835 by Hans Ernst Krøyer. Later, Thomas Laub and

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...

, each composed alternative melodies, but neither has gained widespread adoption, and today they are mostly unknown to the general population. When it was first published, the national anthem had twelve verses, but later editions shortened it to the first, third, fifth, and last verses. Denmark is one of only two countries in the world — the other being

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

– with two official national anthems. Officially, "

" is a national and a

royal anthem The anthem for a person, office or rank is music played on formal or ceremonial occasions in the presence of the person, office-holder, or rank-holder, especially by a military band. The head of state in many countries is honored with a prescrib ...

; it has equal status with "Der er et yndigt land", the civil national anthem. On official and military occasions, "Kong Christian" is performed alone, or the two national anthems are played together.

Music

Lyrics

In certain situations, such as sporting events, only the first verse (or

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

) and the last three lines of the fourth verse are sung.

Notes

References

External links

Aarhus Universitet
- original lyrics by Oehlenschläger {{Authority control European anthems Works by Adam Oehlenschläger Danish anthems 1835 in Denmark 1835 songs National anthems