In 2007, German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk will play the European anthem, Beethoven’s ”Ode to Joy”, after the German national anthem at closedown. Germany takes over the chairmanship of the European Union for six months starting on 1 January, and playing Ode to Joy was the idea of German Chancellor Angela Merkl.
The European anthem is largely the work of German artists. A poem called by German Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) was set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) as part of his 9th symphony. Austrian-German conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) made the arrangement which was adopted in 1985 as the official European anthem.
(Source: ANP/AFP/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)