"Silent Night, Holy Night"

Legends abound about the origin of this world-famous Christmas carol. Fact is that it was Joseph Mohr, an assistant priest of the village of Mariapfarr in Lungau, Province of Salzburg, who penned the lyrics in the form of a poem in 1816. Two years later, in 1818, shortly before Christmas, the teacher Franz Xaver Gruber (see photo) composed the tune – known all over the world today – on Joseph Mohr’s request.
The most unusual thing about it is the fact that the piece was set to music for two solo voices and choir, with guitar accompaniment, since the old organ of the church could not be played anymore. On Christmas Eve of the same year 'Silent Night, Holy Night' received its world premiere by Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber during the Christmas mass in the St. Nicholas’ Church of the little village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg. From there the Christmas carol made its way from Tyrol and Germany to the rest of Europe and eventually reached America. Legend has it that on the Christmas Day of 1839 the Rainer family from Fügen, Tyrol, performed the song for the first time in the ‘New World’ in New York City.

The Christmas Carol has now been translated into about 300 languages and dialects. In contrast to the familiar English title ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’, the titles of the song in Japanese – Kiyoshi kono yoru – or Suaheli  –  Kengele za Juu –  sound rather unusual to European ears. 


In order to preserve this cultural heritage, the Silent Night Society, located in Oberndorf bei Salzburg (see photo), was founded. The aim of this association is to do research into all aspects of the origin of the Christmas carol, to spread authentic versions of the song and to promote awareness of the song’s Austrian origin. 

Moreover, the memories of this wonderful song and its creators are kept alive in various Austrian museums and other sites such as the Silent Night Museum, the grave of Franz Xaver Gruber, both located in Hallein, the Franz Xaver Gruber Museum in Hochburg-Ach, as well as the Joseph Mohr Museum in Mariapfarr.  


Today Christmas CDs all over the world would be incomplete without this traditional Christmas carol. No matter if Enya, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, Mahalia Jackson, James Last or Placido Domingo – all of them have 'Silent Night, Holy Night' as a fixture in their repertoire. The story about the origin of this carol was even adapted to the screen and has 'Das Ewige Lied' (The Eternal Song) as its title. The film was directed by Franz Xaver Bogner, the leading actors are Tobias Moretti as Joseph Mohr and Heio von Stetten as Franz Xaver Gruber.

German version:
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr, 1816
Composition by Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818