Austrian anthem changed to honour women, too

14 July 2011 Last updated at 13:12 GMT Austria's national anthem has not kept up with progress in women's rights Austria plans to recognise its "great daughters" in the national anthem, alongside its "great sons".

The main parties in the Austrian parliament have agreed that part of the anthem's text will be changed. The new version may be ready by January.

The phrase "Home of great sons, you are" is likely to be changed to "Home of great daughters, great sons".

Women politicians from the three main parties said experts would be consulted to settle on a final version.

The anthem's text dates back to 1947. The drive to change it suddenly gained momentum last Friday, when a former women's affairs minister, Maria Rauch-Kallat of the Austrian People's Party (OeVP), put forward a motion to amend the text.

Austrian media say it took several days for male politicians in the conservative OeVP to back Ms Rauch-Kallat's motion.

At a joint news conference on Wednesday the spokeswomen of the OeVP, the Social Democrats (SPOe) and the Greens announced that the change would go ahead.

The move is expected to get the official green light in a parliamentary vote in the autumn.

"Of course there are more important women's issues for us to tackle," said Greens spokeswoman Judith Schwentner. "But this concerns a great symbol - our federal anthem."

View the original article here

Hitler's hometown revokes honour

8 July 2011 Last updated at 14:51 GMT The debate has unsettled Austria, which is still grappling with the legacy of its Nazi past Adolf Hitler's hometown in Austria has revoked the Nazi leader's honorary citizenship - even if he never may have been given it.

The council in Braunau am Inn decided to strip Hitler of any honour he may have received and which did not expire automatically after his death in 1945.

Hitler was actually born in Ranshofen in 1889, and the village made him an honorary citizen in 1933.

Ranshofen later became part of Braunau, and is now seen as Hitler's birthplace.

'Unnecessary' move

On Thursday, the council said in a statement that "no archival evidence could be found for the town of Braunau am Inn's awarding Adolf Hitler honorary citizenship", according to the Austria Press Agency.

But the statement added: "The awarding of honorary citizenship to Adolf Hitler is symbolically and as a precaution revoked and repealed."

Local historians are still arguing whether the honorary title was transferable from Ranshofen to Braunau.

In May, another Austrian town, Amstetten, revoked Hitler's honorary title.

Several other towns across the country have been checking their archives this week to see if the Nazi leader is still an honorary citizen of their communities.

Some politicians argue that the move is unnecessary, because the title expired with Hitler's death in 1945.

The debate has unsettled Austria, which is still grappling with the legacy of its Nazi past, correspondents say.

View the original article here