Anthem · Sacred · 1823 · Europe
Himnusz
A poem written as a prayer for Hungary in 1823, set to music in 1844, which became Hungary's national anthem.
- Words
- Ferenc Kölcsey
- Music
- Ferenc Erkel
- Culture
- Hungarians
- Language
- Hungarian
- Place
- Hungary
- Date
- poem completed 22 January 1823; music 1844
- Type
- Anthem · Sacred
- The words
- Public domain (words by Ferenc Kölcsey (written 1823, published 1829); music by Ferenc Erkel (1844))
The story
The poet Ferenc Kölcsey completed the poem on 22 January 1823. The title of his manuscript was "Hymnus", the Latin word for a hymn, and it bore the subtitle "From Stormy Centuries of the Hungarian Folk". It is often argued that the subtitle, by placing the nation's troubles in the past rather than the present, was added so that the poem would pass the Habsburg censors. The poem was first published in 1829 in Károly Kisfaludy's Aurora, without the subtitle, and appeared with it in a collection of Kölcsey's works in 1832. Its full meaning is evident only to those who know Hungarian history well.
In 1844 a competition was held for a musical setting that the public could sing, and Ferenc Erkel won it. His version was first performed in July 1844 at the National Theatre, where he was conductor, and then before a larger audience on 10 August 1844, at the first voyage of the steamship Széchenyi. By the end of the 1850s it had become customary to sing it on special occasions, on its own or together with Vörösmarty's "Szózat". From 1844 it served in practice as the hymn of the Kingdom of Hungary, and over time the Hungarian word himnusz, taken from the Latin, came to mean a national anthem.
In the early 1900s members of the Hungarian parliament proposed making its status as the national anthem of Hungary within Austria-Hungary official, but no such law was passed. In the 1950s the communist leader Mátyás Rákosi planned to replace it with an anthem better suited to communist ideology, but the poet Gyula Illyés and the composer Zoltán Kodály, whom he had in mind for the task, both refused. Only in 1989 did Erkel's setting gain official recognition, when the Constitution of Hungary named it as the national anthem of the Third Hungarian Republic.
Only the first stanza is sung at official ceremonies. By tradition "Himnusz" opens a ceremony and "Szózat", often called a second national anthem, closes it. Kossuth Rádió plays it at the close of its AM transmissions each night, the state television channels at the end of the day's broadcasts, and Hungarian television at midnight on New Year's Eve. On 7 May 2006 a sculpture by Mária V. Majzik was inaugurated in Budakeszi, near Budapest: the full text of the poem in a circle around a bronze figure of God, with 21 bells on which the melody can be played, paid for by public subscription.
What it says
A prayer to God for the Hungarian people. It looks back over the nation's misfortunes across the centuries and asks God's blessing on them; the mood is solemn and grave, and the melody resembles a Protestant chorale.
The words
Isten, áldd meg a magyartGod, bless the Hungarian
Jó kedvvel, bőséggel,With good cheer, with plenty,
Nyújts feléje védő kart,Stretch out a protecting arm towards him
Ha küzd ellenséggel;When he fights with the enemy;
Bal sors akit régen tép,Him whom ill fate has long been tearing,
Hozz rá víg esztendőt,Bring upon him a merry year,
Megbűnhődte már e népThis people has already atoned
A múltat s jövendőt!For the past and the future!
Őseinket felhozádOur ancestors you brought up
Kárpát szent bércére,Onto the holy peaks of the Carpathians,
Általad nyert szép hazátThrough you a fair homeland was won
Bendegúznak vére.By the blood of Bendegúz.
S merre zúgnak habjaiAnd wherever the waves roar
Tiszának, Dunának,Of the Tisza, of the Danube,
Árpád hős magzatjaiÁrpád's heroic offspring
Felvirágozának.Burst into flower.
Show all 64 lines
Értünk Kunság mezeinFor us on the fields of Kumania
Ért kalászt lengettél,You waved the ripe ears of grain,
Tokaj szőlővesszeinOn the vine shoots of Tokaj
Nektárt csepegtettél.You dripped nectar.
Zászlónk gyakran plántáládOur flag you often planted
Vad török sáncára,On the wild Turk's ramparts,
S nyögte Mátyás bús hadátAnd under Matthias's grim army groaned
Bécsnek büszke vára.Vienna's proud castle.
Hajh, de bűneink miattAlas, but because of our sins
Gyúlt harag kebledben,Anger kindled in your breast,
S elsújtád villámidatAnd you struck down your lightnings
Dörgő fellegedben,From your thundering cloud,
Most rabló mongol nyilátNow the plundering Mongol's arrows
Zúgattad felettünk,You sent whirring above us,
Majd töröktől rabigátThen from the Turk a slave's yoke
Vállainkra vettünk.We took upon our shoulders.
Hányszor zengett ajkainHow often there sounded on the lips
Ozmán vad népénekOf Osman's wild people,
Vert hadunk csonthalmainOver the bone heaps of our beaten army,
Győzedelmi ének!A song of victory!
Hányszor támadt tennfiadHow often your own son rose
Szép hazám, kebledre,Against your breast, my fair homeland,
S lettél magzatod miattAnd you became, because of your offspring,
Magzatod hamvvedre!The urn of your offspring's ashes!
Bújt az üldözött, s feléThe persecuted one hid, and towards him
Kard nyúl barlangjában,A sword reaches into his cave,
Szerte nézett s nem leléHe looked all around and did not find
Honját a hazában,His home in the homeland,
Bércre hág és völgybe száll,He climbs to the peak and goes down to the valley,
Bú s kétség mellette,Grief and doubt beside him,
Vérözön lábainál,A flood of blood at his feet,
S lángtenger felette.And a sea of flame above him.
Vár állott, most kőhalom,A castle stood, now a heap of stones,
Kedv s öröm röpkedtek,Gladness and joy flitted about,
Halálhörgés, siralomThe rattle of death, lamentation
Zajlik már helyettek.Now surge in their place.
S ah, szabadság nem virúlAnd ah, freedom does not bloom
A holtnak véréből,From the blood of the dead,
Kínzó rabság könnye hullTears of tormenting slavery fall
Árvák hő szeméből!From the burning eyes of orphans!
Szánd meg Isten a magyartHave pity, God, on the Hungarian
Kit vészek hányának,Whom storms of peril have tossed,
Nyújts feléje védő kartStretch out a protecting arm towards him
Tengerén kínjának.On the sea of his torment.
Bal sors akit régen tép,Him whom ill fate has long been tearing,
Hozz rá víg esztendőt,Bring upon him a merry year,
Megbűnhődte már e népThis people has already atoned
A múltat s jövendőt!For the past and the future!
Original: Ferenc Kölcsey (1823). Text from Wikisource; public domain.
The English is the Institute’s own translation, made from the original for this page.
Notes on the translation (7)
- The poem addresses God throughout; 'you' and 'your' are God, except in stanza 5, lines 5-8, which turn to the homeland.
- line 2.4: Bendegúz is the legendary father of Attila, whom Hungarian tradition took as an ancestor.
- line 2.7: Árpád led the Hungarians into the Carpathian Basin (c. 895).
- line 3.1: Kunság (Cumania) is the plain between the Danube and the Tisza settled by the Cumans.
- line 3.7: Mátyás is King Matthias Corvinus, who took Vienna in 1485; 'bús' usually means 'sad', here grim or fierce [?].
- line 5.2: 'Ozmán' is Osman, founder of the Ottoman dynasty; his people are the Ottoman Turks.
- line 5.5: 'tennfiad' (your own son) refers to Hungarians who fought against Hungarians.
Listen
On YouTube, from the channel Corul Madrigal. Pressing play loads YouTube’s player. Watch on YouTube
What it inspired
- Himnusz sculpture (Mária V. Majzik), Budakeszi 2006the full text in a circle, with bells that play the melody
People, places and events
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Himnusz", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himnusz
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Himnusz. In Songs in History. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/himnusz
- MLA
- “Himnusz.” Songs in History, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/himnusz. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Himnusz.” Songs in History. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/himnusz.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Himnusz’, Songs in History. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/himnusz (Accessed: ).