Anthempedia
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"Hail to Thee, Hanover" was the national anthem of the Electorate (and later Kingdom) of Hanover, adopted in the early 19th century.

Like many other rulers in the 17th and 18th centuries, George I of Hanover and Great Britain instructed George Handel to create a hymn. Handel's tune remained the anthem of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the end of the personal union in 1837. Many other German states also made this tune their anthem. For example, it was used in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and in the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Prussia. After 1871, it became the anthem of the German Empire with the lyrics to "Heil dir im Siegerkranz".

The last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, was greatly impressed by Handel's theme and instructed his court musician, Haydn, to create the Kaiserhymne, which became his imperial anthem and continued to be used in the new Austrian Empire after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

Lyrics[]

Heil Dir Hannover, heil!,
Freude werd' Dir zuteil,
Freude stets mehr.
Jauchze, Du Engelschor,
Dringe zu Gottes Ohr!
Mit Deinem Freudenchor:
Gebt Gott die Ehr'!

Gott gab den Freudentag,
Was tief verborgen lag,
Kam nun ans Licht.
Zage nicht, Erdensohn,
Wenn schwarz die Wolken droh'n,
Gott hälz auf seinem Thron
Waag' und Gewicht.

Er führt alles aus,
Schützt unser Welfenhaus
mit mächt'gem Arm.
Eintracht ist Gottes Band:
König und Vaterland
Reichen sich Herz und Hand
Heilig und warm.

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