Schön ist die Welt is a revision of Lehár's earlier effort from 1914, Endlich Allein, and is one of the six operettas he wrote specifically for the tenor Richard Tauber. The libretto is by Ludwig Herzer and Fritz Löhner, and the work was first produced at the Metropol-Theater, Berlin, in December 1930. Its Vienna premiere was in December 1931. Schön ist die Welt uses the well-worn theatrical device of mistaken (or in this case, hidden) identity as the basis for its central love story, that between Crown Prince Georg and Princess Elizabeth von und zu Lichtenberg, who are betrothed by arrangement. By straining against the arranged marriage, they end up truly in love. As is the case with most of Lehár's stage works, the trivial plot is enlivened by the beauty, expressivity, and innate characterization of his music, which transcended the genre of operetta. The most memorable numbers include Georg's "Liebste, glaub' an mich" (the signature "Tauber-lied") and the harmonically adventurous and catchy tango "Rio de Janeiro" (performed by Mercedes del Rossa, the center of a peripheral romance). Lehár's inclusion of mandolins and banjo in the orchestration add a special color to the score.

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