Iconic Christmas Carol: Silent Night

by Ruth Storkel.

The world’s most famous Christmas Carol is “Silent Night.” Since its introduction to a small church that gathered in Oberndorf, Austria, on Christmas Eve 1818, it quickly spread around the world, now being sung in over 300 languages.

Famous American singer Bing Crosby made this song popular in 1942; he stated, “It’s a song that always brings a lump to my throat. It’s simple yet so profoundly moving. Every time I sing it, I feel a deep sense of peace and nostalgia.”  

Country singer Johnny Cash said: “Silent Night has a way of quieting the soul and bringing us closer to the Divine. It’s a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas and the love that came down to us.”

It is amazing how quickly a simple song from an obscure Austrian village traveled around the world and became well-known in many countries (in an age when there were no telephones or internet/computers, etc.)

The story of “Silent Night” began over 200 years ago.

It was the year 1818.

In the little village of Oberndorf in the Austrian Alps, Pastor Josef Mohr was out walking and mulling over a problem. The following night was Christmas Eve; the church organ was damaged and out of commission. The people would be looking forward to joyous singing, but now this would be impossible.  

Soon Mohr found himself high on the hill overlooking the peaceful, snow-covered village. He had just viewed a Christmas play, based on the Nativity Story written in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 2, performed by a group of roaming actors. He remembered a Christmas poem he had written several years before, a poem about the angels’ announcement to shepherds on the Judean hillsides. It had been tucked away for two years:

“Stille nacht! Heil’ge Nacht! Alles schlaft; einsam wacht……“

“Perhaps these words could be made into a song to sing at our Christmas Eve service tomorrow night,” Mohr said to himself. He decided to discuss this idea with the church organist, Franz Gruber, the next day, December 24 (Christmas Eve).

The following day, he visited Franz Gruber at his home in nearby Arndorf. Gruber was the church organist at the church of St. Nicholas and also a village school teacher. Pastor Mohr asked him if he would set his poem to music and make it into an arrangement for two singers and a guitar. With very little time to accomplish this, Gruber completed the task that afternoon, and the song was ready to sing for that evening’s Christmas Eve service! The people could now hear the beautiful music they loved, despite a damaged organ!

On Christmas Eve, at the conclusion of the church mass, Gruber, Mohr, and the children’s choir sang the song, accompanied by guitar, for the small congregation. That could have been the song’s first and last presentation if it had not been for Karl Mauracher, organ repairman from Kapfing, who entered the picture a few weeks later to fix the organ at St. Nicholas Church. Upon completing the organ repairs, he asked Gruber to test the organ. Gruber played the song “Silent Night” and Mauracher was deeply impressed. He asked for the written words and the melody and then took them back to his own Alpine village.

In that village, two musical families, the Rainiers and the Strassers, heard Silent Night sung, and they quickly added this beautiful new song to their Christmas season repertoires. The Strasser sisters spread this carol across northern Europe in 1834. The Rainier Singers brought the song to the United States in 1839, singing it in the original German at New York’s Trinity Church. In 1863, the song was translated into English; 8 years later, it became available in print in Charles Hutchin’s “Sunday School Hymnal.” By 1900, the song had made it around the entire globe. (Today, it is sung in over 300 languages.)

This simple song, born in an obscure Austrian village, beautifully tells the story of The Holy Child, Jesus, born in the obscure Judean town of Bethlehem. “Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!”

Silent Night (Stille Nacht!) was originally sung in German and had six verses. In 1859, John Freeman Young wrote the English lyrics with three verses; this version is most commonly sung today.

                             SILENT NIGHT

1. Silent night, holy night,
     All is calm, all is bright,
     Round ‘yon virgin, mother and child,
     Holy infant, so tender and mild,
     Sleep in Heavenly peace!
     Sleep in Heavenly peace!

2. Silent night, holy night,
    Shepherds quake at the sight,
     Glories stream from Heaven afar,
     Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
     Christ the Savior is born!
     Christ the Savior is born!

3. Silent night, holy night,
     Son of God, love’s pure light.
     Radiant beams from Thy Holy face,
     With the dawn of redeeming grace.
     Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
     Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

To hear Bing Crosby’s famous rendition, go to: