Kde domov můj


Kde domov můj is the national anthem of the Czech Republic, written by the composer František Škroup and the playwright Josef Kajetán Tyl.
The piece was written as a part of the incidental music to the comedy Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka. It was first performed by Karel Strakatý at the Estates Theatre in Prague on 21 December 1834. The original song consists of two verses. Although J. K. Tyl is said to have considered leaving the song out of the play, not convinced of its quality, it soon became very popular among Czechs and was accepted as an informal anthem of a nation seeking to revive its identity within the Habsburg Monarchy.
Soon after Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, the first verse of the song became the Czech part of the national anthem, followed by the first verse of the Slovak song Nad Tatrou sa blýska. The songs reflected the two nations' concerns in the 19th century when they were confronted with the already fervent national-ethnic activism of the Germans and the Hungarians, their fellow ethnic groups in the Habsburg Monarchy. Because of the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the First Republic, official translations were made into Hungarian and German as well.
With the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czechoslovak anthem was divided as well. While Slovakia extended its anthem by adding a second verse, the Czech Republic's national anthem was adopted unextended, in its single-verse version.
In 1882, Antonín Dvořák used Kde domov můj in his incidental music to the František Ferdinand Šamberk play Josef Kajetán Tyl, Op. 62, B. 125. The overture is often played separately as a concert work entitled Domov můj.

Original lyrics (from Fidlovačka, 1834)

Czech original and English translation

National Anthem of Czechoslovakia 1918–1992

The first stanza, along with that of the Slovak song Nad Tatrou sa blýska which is nowadays the national anthem of Slovakia, became from 1918 to 1992 the national anthem of Czechoslovakia.

Czech and Slovak anthem with English translation

Official lyrics (adapted version)

Czech lyrics and English translations

German translation (used 1918–1938 and 1939–1945)

Poetic English translation

This version was translated by famous Czech poet and Americanophile Josef Václav Sládek :

Hungarian translation (used 1920–1938)