Historians hope that giving up the first audio recording of the Swedish national anthem can help get the original Jyske Law back in Danish hands

For the prelude to those intense football matches between Denmark’s national team and their Swedish counterparts, Danes in theory actually get a double dose of patriotism during the playing of the respective national anthems.

That’s because the Swedish national song ‘Du gamla, du fria’ is Danish – at least according to the National Library in Århus, where the oldest recorded version of the song was recently uncovered.

And to make matters worse for the Swedes, the song was even sung by a Dane.

‘His name was August Stitz. We originally thought initially that he was from Sweden but we have found out that he was Danish,’ Maria Stenalt, project manager at the library, told public broadcaster DR. ‘The recording is one of the earliest recordings in the world.’

Fritz’s recording is from the 1890s and is part of what is known as ‘The Ruben Cylinders’. These were recorded by then Danish Consul General Gottfried Ruben, who returned from the World Exhibition in Paris with one of the world's first phonographs.

The Danish ownership of ‘Du gamla du fria’ is in many ways similar to the centuries-old copy of the ‘Jyske Law’, which Denmark is attempting to trade back from the Swedes.

But while the recordings are merely something of historical interest for Danes, they are likely a national treasure for Swedes. The song’s lyrics were written in 1844 by Swede Richard Dybeck, while the music was based on an old Swedish folk song.

Stenalt said that now that the Swedes can get their national anthem back, she hoped Denmark would be able to get the Jyske Law back. She added, however, that although parallels can be drawn between the two cases, the ancient Danish document is far more valuable.

The National Library in Århus did have a digital copy made of the original recording, however, which it sent to the Swedish Historical Museum. And according to a museum spokesman, around 5,000 visitors to the museum listened to the recording on its first day of public display.