''Zu Mantua in Banden'' (also known as the '' Andreas-Hofer-Lied'') is one of the most popular

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

s and, since 1948, 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 ...

of the current

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

State of Tyrol Tyrol ( ; ; ) is an Austrian federal state. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical Princely County of Tyrol. It is a constituent part of the present-day Euroregion Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino (together with South Tyrol and Tre ...

, i.e. the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

and

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

part of the former

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an Imperial State, estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with th ...

. The

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

assembly of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

province on 29 October 2004 by majority has rejected its adoption about the Italian-speaking community. It is however, like the ''

Bozner Bergsteigerlied The Bozner Bergsteigerlied () is one of the two unofficial hymns of the South Tyroleans, the other being the '' Andreas-Hofer-Lied''. Its lyrics were composed in 1926 by Karl Felderer in Moos am Ritten to the melody of an old Tyrolean craftsmen ...

'', an unofficial anthem of the

German-speaking German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is a ...

community. The lyrics were written by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

writer Julius Mosen in 1831, and the German composer

Leopold Knebelsberger Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (The Simpsons), Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The ...

melodized them in 1844. The song deals with the death of Andreas Hofer, an innkeeper by trade, who was the leader of the

Tyrolean Rebellion The Tyrolean Rebellion () was an 1809 rebellion in the County of Tyrol against the Bavarian and French occupation of Tyrol during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Led by Andreas Hofer, the rebellion was initially successful in freeing the Coun ...

against the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and Bavarian occupation during the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in Central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Emp ...

in 1809. After Emperor

Francis I of Austria Francis II and I (; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II from 1792 to 1806, and the first Emperor of Austria as Francis I from 1804 to 1835. He was also King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and served ...

had signed the

Treaty of Schönbrunn The Treaty of Schönbrunn (; ), sometimes known as the Peace of Schönbrunn or the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna on 14 October 1809. The treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the N ...

, Hofer fought a losing battle. Betrayed and captured, he was executed by the personal command of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 20 February 1810 by the French forces. The song originating from the

Vormärz ' (; English: ''pre-March'') was a period in the history of Germany preceding the 1848 March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation. The beginning of the period is less well-defined. Some place the starting point directly after ...

era became popular in the course of the veneration of Andreas Hofer as a protagonist of the

Pan-German Pan-Germanism ( or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanism seeks to unify all ethnic Germans, German-speaking people, and possibly also non-German Germanic peoples – into a sin ...

movement in the Austrian lands, especially aimed against

Italian irredentism Italian irredentism ( ) was a political movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Kingdom of Italy, Italy with irredentism, irredentist goals which promoted the Unification of Italy, unification of geographic areas in which indig ...

. Therefore, it has become subject to increasing criticism in recent years. Nevertheless, having official status as a regional anthem since 1948, it has been forbidden by law since 1972 with a fine of up to 2000

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

possibly imposed, to sing

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

versions of the song or to alter the lyrics otherwise in a way that might be

insult An insult is an expression, statement, or behavior that is often deliberately disrespectful, offensive, scornful, or derogatory towards an individual or a group. Insults can be intentional or unintentional, and they often aim to belittle, of ...

ing to the Tyrolean population. Originally, it was generally forbidden to sing different lyrics to the anthem's melody. However, a popular

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

song, ', is written to the melody of the Tyrolean anthem. ''Dem Morgenrot entgegen'' was sung at an event hosted by the

SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

in 2004, which resulted in a legal complaint by the Tyrolean governor. The current legal situation was then established after an objection by the SPÖ at the Austrian

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

, which said the court has affirmed.

Lyrics

The English lyrics are roughly translated.

References

{{Authority control Tyrolean culture Austrian songs Austrian patriotic songs Austrian military marches German patriotic songs Andreas Hofer