Here’s a confession: I’m quite the aficionado of national anthems, and the Dutch anthem is one of the coolest ones out there. It’s very old, it’s quite long, and it has some really cool features. Let’s hit that play button and see how the Wilhelmus came into use, what it means, and why it’s so interesting.
As I stated in the intro, I’m a bit of an anthem lover. I know about two handsful of national anthems by heart, including the German, Belgian, Canadian, American, English and Spanish ones (that last one is a bit of an inside joke). It’s just something I’ve always found interesting, both from a historic perspective as well as from a linguistic one.
The Wilhelmus
And boy, was I born in the right country for it. The Dutch national anthem is widely regarded as the oldest in the world – and it’s not even our first one, but more on that later. Let’s start with the first of fifteen verses – the bit that’s played at sporting events and many official gatherings – and see what it means (I’ll use modern-ish spelling).
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed,
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.
In English, it means something like this:
William of Nassau
I am, of common blood,
true to the fatherland
I remain until I die.
A prince of Orange
I am, ever free and fearless,
the King of Spain
I have always honored.
This is the first verse, in which William of Nassau, our founding father, confesses his undying dedication to our country – and honors the King of Spain, oddly enough, for the whole thing was written as a battle song during the revolution against the Spanish occupation (later on, he says something like I am your servant, but I will defend my own right of freedom). William obviously didn’t write the anthem himself, but it has been written from his perspective, as the leader of the revolution.
I’m not going through all of the fifteen verses, but I’m going to do one more. It’s the sixth one, and it’s sometimes played during official events, mainly when the royal family is involved, for example when a new king or queen is inaugurated. It goes like this:
Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
Verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik toch vroom mag blijven,
Uw dienaar t’aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt.
In English:
My shield and my trust
Are you, o God, my Lord,
On you I want to build,
Do not ever leave me.
That I may remain devout,
Your servant at all times
To drive away the tyranny
That is piercing my heart
This is obviously a remnant of our old ties with Christianity, ties that have since been dwindling, but our royal family is still religious, at least on paper.
The other national anthem
Even though the Wilhelmus is widely regarded to be the oldest national anthem in the world, it’s actually our second one. The Wilhelmus, even though the song itself has existed for about 450 years, was preceded as our national anthem by another song before we revived this one. It’s called Wien Neêrlands Bloed (read more about the odd diacritic mark here), and it’s a song that’s much less about our allegiance to God and the rest of the world (although the big guy definitely makes an appearance), and much more about being battle-hardened. The first verse goes like this:
Wien Neêrlands bloed door d’aderen vloeit,
Van vreemde smetten vrij,
Wiens hart voor land en koning gloeit,
Verheff’ den zang als wij:
Hij stell’ met ons, vereend van zin,
Met onbeklemde borst,
Het godgevallig feestlied in
Voor vaderland en vorst.
Freely translated into English:
Whoever has Dutch blood running through their veins,
Free of foreign blemishes,
Whose heart glows for country and king,
Sings along with us:
He sings with us, united,
At the top of his voice,
This happy song that pleases God,
For fatherland and king
Wien Neêrlands Bloed became the national anthem in 1817, a few years after the French occupation and the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and kept that status until 1932, when it was traded in for the Wilhelmus.
Even though it was our official national anthem, not a whole lot of people liked it. The main reason for this is the bit about us being free of foreign blemishes. While it’s meant to mean real Dutch people who don’t serve France, it was frowned upon, to say the least, by the people of the Dutch Indies, one of our colonies at the time – many of them had mingled with the Dutch and moved to the Netherlands, so it all felt a bit racist. An attempt to change that very line didn’t catch on at all, either, and in 1932, the Wilhelmus officially became our national anthem.
Acrostic
One of the coolest features about the Wilhelmus, is that it’s written as an acrostic. An acrostic is a poem or song of which the first letter of every verse forms a sentence, word, or name – in this case, William’s name, Willem van Nassou, although the u is turned into a v in Roman fashion, and the s is nowadays written as z on both occasions in the words that start off the verses, so you’ll end up with Willem van Nazzov. This way, you’ll get the following first lines:
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
In Godes vrees te leven
Lijdt u, mijn onderzaten
Lijf en goed al te samen
Edel en hooggeboren
Mijn schild ende betrouwen
Van al die mij bezwaren
Als David moeste vluchten
Na ‘t zuur zal ik ontvangen
Niets doet mij meer erbarmen
Als een prins opgezeten
Zo het den wil des Heren
Zeer christlijk was gedreven
Oorlof, mijn arme schapen
Voor God wil ik belijden
Long song short
With fifteen verses, the Dutch national anthem isn’t nearly the longest one, but it’s definitely up there. It’s a story in which William of Nassau, our founding father, introduces himself to the people of the newly formed Kingdom of the Netherlands, and expresses being torn between honoring the Spanish king – and God – while at the same time serving the people of the Kingdom – although he obviously didn’t write the song himself.
Before the Wilhelmus, we had another anthem, Wien Neêrlands Bloed, that never really caught on, mainly due to the racist way in which it can be read. Still, the Wilhelmus is widely regarded as the oldest national anthem in the world.
