Notably, one youth resistance group that fought back against the Nazis was known as the “Edelweiss Pirates.” The edelweiss flower, from which the song takes its name, was actually used by a variety of anti-Nazi resistance groups. In the musical, Georg von Trapp actually emotionally breaks down upon singing this line because he is saddened that his beloved homeland is coming under the rule of the Nazis, whom he hates.īoth Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the lyrics for the song, and Richard Rodgers, who wrote the melody, were Jewish and fiercely opposed to Nazism in all forms. The line “Bless my homeland forever” in the song is referring not to Nazi Germany, but rather to independent Austria. In reality, “Edelweiss” did not even exist at the time when the Nazis were in power in Germany, because Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers didn’t compose the song until 1959-nearly a decade and a half after the Nazis were defeated.įurthermore, in the musical The Sound of Music, “Edelweiss” is not presented as a pro-Nazi song in any way. Now we need to address an even stranger misconception that has arisen in recent years, which is the misconception that “Edelweiss” originated as a Nazi anthem. Meanwhile, here is a blog post written by an Austrian that specifically criticizes the musical for its music, which the author of the blog post says “sucks.” Basically, the only good thing any of them have to say about The Sound of Music is that it at least draws in tourists. Here is a YouTube video with a performance of the song: This has been the official national anthem of Austria ever since 1946. The current national anthem of Austria is “Land der Berge, Land am Strome” (“Land of Mountains, Land by the River”), which is also known as “Bundeshymne der Republik Österreich” (“National Hymn of the Republic of Austria”). ![]() The national anthem of Austria when it was part of Germany under Nazi rule was composed of the first stanza of the “Deuschlandlied,” the national anthem of Germany, and the “Horst-Wessel-Lied,” the official Nazi anthem. The national anthem of Austria from 1929 to 1938 was “Sei gesegnet ohne Ende” (“Be Blessed without End”). “Edelweiss” is not the Austrian national anthem, nor has it ever been the Austrian national anthem, nor is it likely that it will ever become the Austrian national anthem. There may be versions of the song in German today, but these are translations of the original song lyrics in English. In reality, there never was an original version of the song in German it was originally composed in English. Theodore Bikel, the actor who played Georg von Trapp in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, recorded in his autobiography how, after a performance of the show, a native Austrian approached him and told him, “I love that ‘Edelweiss’-of course, I have known it for a long time, but only in German.” With “Edelweiss,” though, Hammerstein really outdid himself the song sounds so convincingly like a real folk song that even a few native Austrians mistook it as one and imagined having heard it in German long before it was actually composed. ![]() He also wrote the lyrics for the song “Ol’ Man River” for the 1927 musical Show Boat, which many people have mistaken for a real black spiritual. Oscar Hammerstein II was remarkably talented at composing all-original song lyrics that sounded so much like actual folk song lyrics that people could easily mistake them for such. Here is the version of the song from the 1965 film version of The Sound of Music: In case you are unfamiliar with the song “Edelweiss,” in The Sound of Music, it is sung by the character Georg von Trapp right before he and his family are forced to flee their homeland of Austria forever in order to escape from the Nazis. Although Hammerstein and Rodgers were trying to imitate the overall genre of folk music, they did not base their song on any preexisting lyrics or melody. In reality, the song “Edelweiss” was composed by the American composing duo Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers as an original song for the 1959 musical The Sound of Music. Other people have gotten the bizarre impression that it was composed as a Nazi song or even that it was the national anthem of Nazi Germany. Many people even think that it is the national anthem of Austria. ![]() There are a lot of popular misconceptions about the song “Edelweiss.” Many people think it is an age-old Austrian folk song.
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