Rev.

Joseph Mohr Franz Xaver Gruber

(1792-1848) (1787-1863)

Joseph Mohr wrote the Franz Gruber composed the

words for "Silent Night" while music for "Silent Night" on
assigned to a pilgrim church December 24, 1818 at his
in Mariapfarr, Austria in residence in Arnsdorf,
1816. Austria.

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.
 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.

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.
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.
In 1834 the
Strasser Family
Singers sang
"Silent Night" for
King Frederick
William IV of
Prussia. He
was so taken
with what the
Strassers called
their "Song of
Heaven," that he
commanded it to
be sung by his
cathedral choir
every Christmas
Eve.

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.

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.

SILENT STILLE
NIGHT NACHT
Today's English Original German Lyrics
Lyrics

Original Music
Now Playing
Stille Nacht! Heilige
Silent night, holy Nacht!
night, Alles schläft, einsam
All is calm, all is wacht
bright Nur das traute heilige
Round yon virgin Paar.
mother and Child. Holder Knab im
Holy Infant, so lockigten Haar,
tender and mild, Schlafe in
Sleep in heavenly himmlischer Ruh!
peace, Schlafe in
Sleep in heavenly himmlischer Ruh!
peace.
Stille Nacht! Heilige
Silent night, holy Nacht!
night, Gottes Sohn, o wie
Shepherds quake lacht
at the sight; Lieb' aus deinem
Glories stream göttlichen Mund,
from heaven afar, Da uns schlägt die
Heavenly hosts rettende Stund.
sing Alleluia! Jesus in deiner
Christ the Savior Geburt!
is born, Jesus in Deiner
Christ the Savior Geburt!
is born!
Stille Nacht! Heilige
Silent night, holy Nacht!
night, Die der Welt Heil
Son of God, gebracht,
love’s pure light; Aus des Himmels
Radiant beams goldenen Höhn
from Thy holy Uns der Gnaden Fülle
face läßt sehn:
With the dawn of Jesus in
redeeming grace, Menschengestalt,
Jesus, Lord, at Jesus in
Thy birth, Menschengestalt.
Jesus, Lord, at
Thy birth. Stille Nacht! Heilige
Nacht!
Silent night, holy Wo sich heut alle
night Macht
Wondrous star, Väterlicher Liebe
lend thy light; ergoß
With the angels Und als Bruder
let us sing, huldvoll umschloß
Alleluia to our Jesus die Völker der
King; Welt,
Christ the Savior Jesus die Völker der
is born, Welt.
Christ the Savior
is born! Stille Nacht! Heilige
Nacht!
Lange schon uns
bedacht,
Als der Herr vom
Grimme befreit
in der Väter urgrauer
Zeit
Aller Welt Schonung
verhieß,
Aller Welt Schonung
verhieß.

Stille Nacht! Heilige

Nacht!
Hirten erst
kundgemacht
durch der Engel
Alleluja,
Tönt es laut bei Ferne
und Nah:
 Jesus der Retter is
da!
Jesus der Retter ist
da!

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