“God protect Austria”
TranscriptI declare before the world that the news that has been spread in Austria, to the effect that there has been industrial unrest, that rivers of blood have been flowing, that the government does not have the situation under control and that it could not on its own initiative have created order, [that this news] is invented from A to Z. The federal president has instructed me to inform the Austrian people that we are yielding to superior force. Because we are not minded at any price, even in this grave hour, to spill German blood, we have ordered our armed forces to withdraw in the event that the invasion is effected, without significant resistance, without resistance, and to wait for decisions over the coming hours. The federal president has entrusted the command of the armed forces to General of the Infantry Schilhawsky, the general inspector of troops. Further instructions to the armed forces will be issued by him. And thus I bid the Austrian people my farewell at this hour with a German expression and a heartfelt wish: God protect Austria!
Recording of a performance of the play “Let’s forget the world—Volksoper 1938”, 2:31 min, 2023, Volksoper Wien
Excerpt from the radio play “The Passion of Austria” with original recording of the Schuschnigg speech, Radio Wien (RAVAG), 1:06 min, 8 April 1955, Österreichischer Rundfunk ORF
Excerpt from the documentary “How we became what we are—Generation Austria”, 0:59 min, 18.1.2014, ÖsterreichischerRundfunk ORF
A 2023 production by the Volksoper opera house references Kurt Schuschnigg’s speech. The protagonists on stage listen to the speech on the radio. Each reacts differently to the “words of farewell”, according to their own political attitudes.
Transcript“All of us who have been surprised in such an unparalleled way, well, I can think of no other way of putting it: we can’t get this music out of our ears.”
[Music: March from the Time of Frederick the Great, presenting National Socialism as a German or Prussian phenomenon.]
“This music, it pursues us even into the worst dreams. But the music doesn’t drown out the words that the loudspeaker sprayed into our faces on a March evening.”
[Excerpt of the original recording of the Schuschnigg speech from 1938]
“And thus I bid the Austrian people my farewell at this hour with a German expression and a heartfelt wish: God protect Austria!”
This documentary from 2014 reuses the footage of the weeping family from 1964. Now, it illustrates a concrete family’s history, the family Molden-Preradović (whose members became prominent in the Austrian resistance). In the television documentary, the reason for their sadness is no longer the Prussian march: now it is the Schuschnigg speech. This new combination of old materials is not marked or explained.
Live broadcast of Kurt Schuschnigg’s last speech as federal chancellor, Radio Wien (RAVAG), 1:50 min, 11.3.1938, Österreichischer Rundfunk ORF
TranscriptI declare before the world that the news that has been spread in Austria, to the effect that there has been industrial unrest, that rivers of blood have been flowing, that the government does not have the situation under control and that it could not on its own initiative have created order, [that this news] is invented from A to Z. The federal president has instructed me to inform the Austrian people that we are yielding to superior force. Because we are not minded at any price, even in this grave hour, to spill German blood, we have ordered our armed forces to withdraw in the event that the invasion is effected, without significant resistance, without resistance, and to wait for decisions over the coming hours. The federal president has entrusted the command of the armed forces to General of the Infantry Schilhawsky, the general inspector of troops. Further instructions to the armed forces will be issued by him. And thus I bid the Austrian people my farewell at this hour with a German expression and a heartfelt wish: God protect Austria!
Live broadcast of Kurt Schuschnigg’s last speech as federal chancellor, Radio Wien (RAVAG), 1:50 min, 11.3.1938, Österreichischer Rundfunk ORF
The “Anschluss”, the seizure of power in Austria in 1938 by the National Socialists, was a radio event. Austria at this time was under the dictatorial rule of Federal Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg. Announcing his resignation on the radio, he claimed that because of the pressure from the National Socialists he could see no alternative.
His use of the phrase “God protect Austria” at the end of the speech lends it an emotional climax. Films, television and school textbooks later gave the sentence a central place in the historical narrative. It also formed a foundation to the “victim myth”—the claim that Austria did not share responsibility for the crimes of Nazism, and that as a “victim” of German aggression, Austria had been in need of God’s “protection”. Still today, some authors prefer to ignore the fact that many of those who listened to the speech on the radio were not mourning but celebrating.
Find out more at: hdgoe.at/nazi_seizure_of_power
Excerpt from the radio play “The Passion of Austria” with original recording of the Schuschnigg speech, Radio Wien (RAVAG), 1:06 min, 8 April 1955, Österreichischer Rundfunk ORF
Transcript“All of us who have been surprised in such an unparalleled way, well, I can think of no other way of putting it: we can’t get this music out of our ears.”
[Music: March from the Time of Frederick the Great, presenting National Socialism as a German or Prussian phenomenon.]
“This music, it pursues us even into the worst dreams. But the music doesn’t drown out the words that the loudspeaker sprayed into our faces on a March evening.”
[Excerpt of the original recording of the Schuschnigg speech from 1938]
“And thus I bid the Austrian people my farewell at this hour with a German expression and a heartfelt wish: God protect Austria!”
28th edition of the programme “Welt Ahoi!”, titled “55 Years of the State Treaty”, radio station Ö1, 1:51 min, 16 May 2010, Österreichischer Rundfunk ORF
Transcript“To mark the anniversary, Russia has finally opened up the last of its archives and presented Welt Ahoi! with an exclusive audio document of an agitated Federal Chancellor [Foreign Minister] Leopold Figl on the night before the signing—a politician more than conscious of his great responsibility as a media chancellor.”
“Please: What should I wear? Mama, are you asleep? Mama, what should I put on tomorrow? Already sleeping. What should I say tomorrow? Afterwards, no idea. Nothing like this has happened before. My God. It is finished. Hmm, better not. Ahh, what’s done is done. Hmm, maybe not. Ah: Never, again, never again Four in the Jeep. Hmm, no, doesn’t work, too political. What do you say on these kinds of occasions? More haste less speed. Well, it’s true, but. Ah, now, yes: I can’t give you anything for Christmas. Hmm, I’ve said that before, maybe someone will remember, then it’ll be embarrassing. [1945 Christmas speech, reconstructed in 1965] Ah, now: [in English] For further informations please contact the conductor. Yes, that’ll get their attention. Well, that’s English, then the Russians will be angry again. […] Headlights make you more visible [a road safety slogan]. No, but keep a note of it, it might fit somewhere else. But come on now, Leo, come on. The sun’s already high in the sky. Ah, I’m going to lie down. Something will come to me, otherwise I’ll just say whatever springs to mind. Hopefully it’ll rain. Bloody State Treaty.”