"Ode to Joy" is best known for its use by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final (fourth) movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824. Beethoven's text is not based entirely on Schiller's poem, and it introduces a few new sections.
It's a tune about peace: Ode to Joy represents the triumph of universal brotherhood against war and desperation. Indeed, Beethoven himself put to music a poem that praises and wishes for freedom and peace between all peoples. Secondly, it's the European anthem.
