Text: Anton Pichler (priest)
Music: Ernst Sompek
Translation: S.Micklethwaite
First performed on May 15th, 1928, by the choir of the St. Andrä boys school.
Land of our fathers, with joy we thee greet,
Garden by eternal snows held safe,
Dreamily at the darkening forest's feet
Peaceful villages by a sunny lake.
When at the smithy the hammers do pound,
Or the plough be grasped by sinewy hand,
|: Land of our fathers, cheers to thee resound:
Salzburg, oh Salzburg, my native land! :|
As if from the ring's golden circle,
Greeting us from the verdant hillside
This diamond, this wondrous stone doth sparkle -
Salzburg, that bastion in the morning's light!
And when from towers of bygone days
the bells their joyous round begin,
|: through our thoughts and secluded lanes
the immortal Mozart now strides again. :|
Though the world's far reaches we may wander,
None can, my homeland, with thee compare -
For us all, sole cradle and mother,
Salzburg, oh jewel of Austria.
Soil of our fathers, may our oath be known,
Loyally to guard thee, in our children's stead!
|: Thou, ensconced on that eternal throne,
Shelter this land with hands wide spread! :|
