On 11 November 2024, a few minutes before noon, the square in front of the volunteer fire station in Bieńkówka, southern Poland, filled with people: firefighters in uniform, young firefighters, the colour party, a brass band and residents carrying white and red flags. At 12:00 the band played the Polish national anthem, “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego”, and the crowd sang it together with the whole country.
The anthem at noon
“Niepodległa do hymnu” (roughly “Sing the anthem for Independence”) is a campaign that since 2018 has invited Poles to sing the national anthem at exactly 12:00 on National Independence Day, 11 November. The first edition marked the centenary of Poland regaining independence in 1918 and was launched by the “Niepodległa” Programme Office. At noon radio and television stations broadcast the anthem, so anyone can join in: at school, at work, in a town square or at home. The idea is simple: for one moment, the whole country sings together.
In Bieńkówka people gathered in front of the fire station. By 11:59 the colour party was in place and uniformed firefighters were saluting. The band played the anthem and the crowd sang.
Where the anthem comes from
“Mazurek Dąbrowskiego” was written in 1797 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy, as the “Song of the Polish Legions in Italy”. Józef Wybicki wrote it for the soldiers of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, who fought alongside Napoleon hoping to return to a free homeland. Its opening line, “Poland has not yet perished”, accompanied insurgents and emigrants throughout the 19th century. It became Poland’s official national anthem in 1927.
After the anthem the band played on for several more minutes. The last photos, taken at 12:10, still show the musicians at their instruments.
More photos from that year: 2024 in Frames.
Sources
- dzieje.pl: the “Niepodległa do hymnu” campaign (in Polish)
- tvn24.pl: the national anthem at noon (in Polish)