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 Rev. Joseph Mohr (1792-1848) Joseph Mohr wrote the words for "Silent Night" while assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria in 1816. |
 Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) Franz Gruber composed the music for "Silent Night" on December 24, 1818 at his residence in Arnsdorf, Austria. |
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In 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns
throughout the Austrian Alps. On December 23 they arrived
at Oberndorf, a village near Salzburg where they were scheduled
to perform the story of Christ's birth in the Church of
St. Nicholas.
Unfortunately, the St. Nicholas church organ wasn't working and
would not be repaired before Christmas. Because the church
organ was out of commission, the actors presented their Christmas
drama in a private home. That Christmas presentation put
assistant pastor Josef Mohr in a meditative mood. So,
instead of walking straight to his house, Mohr took a longer way
home. His path took him up over a hill overlooking the
village.
Mohr decided those words would make a good carol for his church
to sing the following evening at their Christmas eve
service. However, he didn't have any music to which that
poem could be sung. So, the next day Mohr went to see the
church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber.
Although he only had a few hours to come up with something, by
that evening, Gruber had composed a musical setting for Mohr's
poem which could be sung with a guitar (since the organ was
broken). On Christmas Eve, the little Oberndorf congregation
heard Gruber and Mohr sing their new composition to the
accompaniment of Gruber's guitar.
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From that hilltop, Mohr looked down on the peaceful snow-covered
village. Reveling in the wintry night's majestic silence,
he gazed down at the glowing scene. His thoughts about the
Christmas play he had just seen reminded him of a poem he had
written a couple of years earlier. The poem about the night
when angels announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to
shepherds on a hillside.
Weeks later, well-known organ builder Karl Mauracher arrived to
fix the St. Nicholas church organ. When he finished,
Mauracher stepped back to let Gruber test the instrument. When
Gruber sat down, he began playing the melody he had written for
Mohr's Christmas poem. Deeply impressed, Mauracher took the
music and words of "Silent Night" back to his own Alpine village,
Kapfing. There, two well-known families of singers, the
Rainers and the Strassers, heard it. Captivated by "Silent
Night," both groups put the new song into their Christmas season
repertoire.
The following Christmas of 1819, the Rainer Family Singers sang "Stille Nacht" in the village church of Fügen (Zillertal). Three years later they sang it for royalty. Emperor Francis I of Austria and his ally Czar Alexander I of Russia were staying in the nearby castle of Count Dönhoff (now Bubenberg Castle). The Rainer Family performed the carol and were invited to Russia for a series of concerts. |
It spread through Europe and in 1839 the Raniers brought the song
to America as the "Tyrolean Folk Song" where they sung it at the
Alexander Hamilton Monument, outside Trinity Church, in New York
city. Since then it has been translated into over 300
languages and dialects.
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The foundations for the Silent Night Chapel, which stands on
the site of the original St. Nicholas Church, were laid on
August 17, 1924, the stained-glass windows were donated and
installed in 1935 and the altar in 1936, and it was dedicated
on August 15, 1937. The original St. Nicholas Church was torn down because of flooding
in the area in the 1890s.
Each year, on December 24, a special passenger train pulled by
a bright red electric locomotive heads out of the train station
in Salzburg for the half hour trip to the village of Oberndorf. A
multitude of languages can be heard as passengers from all over
the globe become Christmas pilgrims, heading for the birthplace
of the world's best loved Christmas carol "Silent Night."
The hillside around the Silent Night Chapel is lit by candles
and lanterns held by people who are celebrating the hymn of
heavenly peace.
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Today's English Lyrics
Silent night, holy night,
Silent night, holy night,
Silent night, holy night,
Silent night, holy night
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Original German Lyrics
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! |
© 2005 - Cathy