The German-language patriotic song "" (French "", Italian "", Romansh ""), composed in 1811 by
Johann Rudolf Wyss (1743–1818), was used as the
de facto national anthem from about 1850. The setting of the hymn to the British tune of "
God Save the King" led to confusing situations when both countries' anthems were played. Therefore, it was replaced with another tune in 1961. The Swiss Psalm was composed in 1841 by
Alberich Zwyssig (1808–1854). Zwyssig used a tune he had composed in 1835 and slightly altered the words of a poem written in 1840 by (1809–1867). In the second half of the 19th century, the song became popular and was frequently sung at patriotic celebrations. Between 1894 and 1953, there were repeated suggestions for it to be adopted as official national anthem. In this, it was in competition with "
Rufst du, mein Vaterland", a patriotic song that was widely seen as the
de facto national anthem but was never given official status. The Swiss Psalm temporarily became the national anthem in 1961. After a trial period of three years, the Swiss tune was adopted indefinitely in 1965. The statute could not be challenged until ten years later but did not totally exclude the possibility of an ultimate change. A competition was set up in 1979 to search for a successor to the anthem. Despite many submissions, none of the others seemed to express the Swiss sentiment. The Swiss anthem finally got its definitive statutory status in April 1981, the Federal Council maintaining that it was purely a Swiss song suitably dignified and solemn. The popularity of the song has not been established. At least, it has been shown with several
vox pops taken that many people do not know it at all, and only a small percentage can recite it all. ==Lyrics==