After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary as a result of World War I in 1918, Austria became a republic. The anthem of the new republic was created in 1920 and adopted that year. The lyrics were written by Karl Renner, who would later become the first federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria Karl Renner after World War II. Renner was a man of wide-ranging literary interests with a weakness for poetry. He asked his friend, the composer Wilhelm Kienzl, to set it to music. However, the Rennerr-Kienzl anthem never achieved popularity and was replaced in 1929.
Special thanks to: Pavel Zinovatny for some of this information as well as the lyrics and music file.