Lorenz Leopold Haschka

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (January 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Lorenz Leopold Haschka]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Lorenz Leopold Haschka}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Lorenz Leopold Haschka (1 September 1749 – 3 August 1827) was an Austrian poet and author of the words to Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Austria's national anthem until 1918.^[1]

Haschka was born and died in Vienna. In his youth, he was a member of the Society of Jesus. On the suppression of the Society (1773) he devoted himself, in secular life, to poetry, this was now to become his vocation and his means of livelihood. His pupil, the wealthy Johann Baptist von Alxinger, an imitator of Christoph Martin Wieland, came to his assistance. Haschka also found aid in the home of poet Karoline Pichler. Having left the Jesuits, under the influence of Josephinism, he became a freemason and wrote odes against the papacy during the presence of Pius VI in Vienna, as well as against the religious orders. He returned to Catholicism after the death of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and was selected to compose a national anthem, with music by Joseph Haydn, which was first sung on 12 February 1797, at the celebration of Francis II's birthday. Haschka was given a position as assistant in the library of the University of Vienna and was made instructor in aesthetics in the newly founded Theresianum. He retired in 1824.