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At the foundation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, it was decided that a national anthem was needed. The hymn Het Wilhelmus – which is the national anthem today – was already well-known in the time of the Dutch Republic. At that time, however, it was more of a party or faction hymn than a national one, being associated with and glorifying the House of Orange – which in the politics of the 17th and 18th Netherlands had enthusiastic supporters but also bitter foes. In particular, the Wilhelmus was unpopular with the anti-Orangist Patriot party, which dominated the country (under French tutelage) for a considerable time.



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Following the fall of Napoleon, with the House of Orange attaining the status of Monarchs which they lacked before, they desired to make a fresh start and adopt a politically neutral hymn rather than what had been their factional song. Moreover, a new song might also be acceptable to the Catholic inhabitants of the Southern Netherlands with which the Dutch were united in 1815 to form the United Kingdom of the Netherlands; the Wilhelmus might be interpreted as expressing Calvinist sentiments.



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A competition was accordingly organized by Admiral Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen which was won by the Dutch poet Hendrik Tollens (1780–1856) with his poem Wien Neerlandsch bloed …, which, after some failed attempts by less gifted composers, was set to music by Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772–1847), a German expatriate living in Amsterdam.





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