(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Few would claim it's the most stirring national anthem, and few know it by heart, but the Swiss Psalm has survived all attempts at replacement. This content was published on July 26, 2025 - 11:00 8 minutes

A member of the Swiss Abroad editorial team, I mainly write about Switzerland's most peculiar features and stories. After completing my master's degree in Asian Studies in Geneva (with a detour at Tokyo University and Kyoto University), I worked on the newsdesk at RSI, occasionally collaborating with Presence Switzerland during the Expo in South Korea and Milan. I have been working for SWI swissinfo since 2016.

• More from this auth
• Italian Departme

• Deutsch de Was man zur Schweizer Nationalhymne wissen muss Read more: Was man zur Schweizer Nationalhymne wissen mus
• Français fr Le Cantique suisse: un hymne désuet, peut-être, mais coriace Read more: Le Cantique suisse: un hymne désuet, peut-être, mais coriac
• Italiano it Salmo svizzero: un inno desueto, forse, ma coriaceo Original Read more: Salmo svizzero: un inno desueto, forse, ma coriace

You know when you're singing a song in a group and someone gets the words wrong? This happens all the time in Switzerland when singing the national anthem – and no one's even making a mistake.

That's if people actually bother singing. Many members of the men's national football team, for example, keep their lips sealed before matches (the women's team at the recent European Championships was less hesitant about singing).

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When former national footballer Valon Behrami (with blond highlights in that video from the 2018 World Cup) was asked about this by Swiss public television, RSI, in June, he came up with three excuses for his silence: the confusion of opponents at hearing different languages, his poor singing, and the fact that he couldn ' t remember the words.

Behrami is in good company. Knowing even the first verse by heart is a rare skill. Even former president Moritz Leuenberger confessed that he often only moved his lips,“not having memorised the redundant verses”.

Leuenberger ' s comments wouldn ' t have pleased Leonhard Widmer, the author of the text, and Alberich Zwyssig, who composed the music.

Born of an unusual friendship

Widmer and Zwyssig came from opposite worlds. The former was a radical-liberal progressive Protestant, the latter a Cistercian monk. Nevertheless, a friendship developed. Widmer, as well as running a sheet music shop frequented by the monk, was also a poet, and in 1841 he asked Zwyssig to set one of his poems to music.

The score of the Swiss Psalm kept at the National Library in Bern. Swiss National Library

Zwyssig recycled a liturgical hymn he had written a few years earlier. The result: the Swiss Psalm, a hymn that combines God, mountains and morning light in a spiritual-patriotic mix. The song was well-received, spread spontaneously and was soon being heard at national events.

It would take decades, however, before it became a national anthem.

First, because until the spread of radio and television, anthems were often relegated to national ceremonies (not only in Switzerland). As they didn ' t reach a wide audience, declaring them official was fairly low on the authorities ' list of priorities. The government repeatedly emphasised that such a decision wasn ' t within its competence.

Second, the Swiss Psalm had a competitor, also sung at official events: Rufst du, mein Vaterland? (Call'st Thou, My Fatherland?) by the poet and professor of philosophy Johann Rudolf Wyss (who also edited the novel The Swiss Family Robinson, written by his father Johann David Wyss, published in 1812).

God save the Swiss Psalm

The two texts were very different. The first stanza of Widmer/Zwyssig's psalm can be summarised as follows: the beauty of the Alps, illuminated by the morning light, instils great faith and a desire to pray for the homeland.

The poem by Wyss, on the other hand, is much more direct. Roughly paraphrased: Oh, how beautiful it is to die for one's country! I hope it happens to me – I couldn't ask for anything better.

Italian :

Quando bionda aurora il mattin c'indora
l'alma mia t'adora re del ciel!
Quando l'alpe già rosseggia
a pregare allor t'atteggia;
in favor del patrio suol,
in favor del patrio suol,
cittadino Dio lo vuol,
cittadino Dio, si Dio lo vuol.

German :

Trittst im Morgenrot daher,
Seh'ich dich im Strahlenmeer,
Dich, du Hocherhabener, Herrlicher!
Wenn der Alpenfirn sich rötet,
Betet, freie Schweizer, betet!
Eure fromme Seele ahnt
Eure fromme Seele ahnt
Gott im hehren Vaterland,
Gott, den Herrn, im hehren Vaterland.

French :

Sur nos monts, quand le soleil
Annonce un brillant réveil,
Et prédit d'un plus beau jour le retour,
Les beautés de la patrie
Parlent à l'âme attendrie;
Au ciel montent plus joyeux
Au ciel montent plus joyeux
Les accents d'un coeur pieux,
Les accents émus d'un coeur pieux.

Romansh:

En l'aurora la damaun ta salida il carstgaun,
spiert etern dominatur, Tutpussent!
Cur ch'ils munts straglischan sura,
ura liber Svizzer, ura.
Mia olma senta ferm,
Mia olma senta ferm Dieu en tschiel,
il bab etern, Dieu en tschiel, il bab etern.

English:

When the morning skies grow red
And over us their radiance shed
Thou, O Lord, appeareth in their light!
When the alps glow bright with splendor,
Pray to God, to Him surrender!
For you feel and understand
That God dwelleth in this land.
That God, the Lord, dwelleth in this land.

Source: Swiss National LibraryExternal link / aboutExternal link

Which version was preferred depended on international geopolitics. In 1961, the government – called upon for the umpteenth time to decide on the matter – provisionally designated the Swiss Psalm as the national anthem. This provisional status lasted for 20 years, until April 1, 1981, when it became Switzerland ' s official national anthem.

What tipped the scales was not the pacifist spirit of the time, but a musical problem.

Rufst du, mein Vaterland? was sung to the tune of the British national anthem God Save the King/Queen, as were the anthems of various countries (Liechtenstein ' s still is) and this was beginning to cause a fair bit of embarrassment at international sporting events.

Attempts at change

Some members of the older generation still turn their noses up at this decision. However, it's not only those nostalgic for Rufst du, mein Vaterland? who aren't particularly keen on the current anthem.

More More Old anthem, new lyrics

This content was published on Oct 4, 2018 The Swiss national anthem has been much debated lately: some people want to update the words and make it more modern. Is it time for a change?

Read more: Old anthem, new lyric

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