History of A Christmas Carol: Silent Night

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Merry Christmas, everyone! Blessings to you and yours from all of us at Heroes, Heroines, and History! We appreciate you, our readers!

 

Every year starting the day after Thanksgiving, my favorite radio station plays wall-to-wall Christmas music for a month. Now don’t get me wrong. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I love the carols and songs that accompany this beautiful season. But in years past when I was in my car a lot more often (the car is where I listen to the radio most often), I used to get bored with Christmas music about two weeks into the month. Yes, I was a bit Scrooge-like in that regard. 

 

But lately, I’ve really been listening to the lyrics of the songs I love—both Christmas and not. I realize I’ve grown immune to the words of many songs, and when I slow my mind down to hear what is being sung, they hold great meaning. One such song was “Silent Night.” I thought you might like a bit of history on this Christmas favorite.

 

This beloved carol came about because of the partnership of two men in Austria in the early 1800s. The lyrics were penned by Joseph Mohr. Born in 1872, Mohr became a priest in 1815, and his duties took him to various villages in different parts of Austria. He was thought to have penned the words to this famous song in 1816, and two years later, went to minister in Oberndorf.

 

Frank Xaver Gruber was supposed to carry on his father’s weaving business, but his heart wasn’t in the family craft. So instead, his father allowed him to be educated as a teacher. After earning his teaching credentials, he took a job in Arnsdorf and would also play the organ for the neighboring town of Oberndorf. It was in that town that the two men met. As Mohr shared the words he’d penned about the night of Christ’s birth, Gruber wrote a tune to accompany the beautiful verses.

 

Originally written in German, the song was performed for the first time on Christmas eve of 1818 in the St. Nicholas parish church. While Gruber was an organist, they actually played the tune on guitar because there had been flooding in the church which was thought to have damaged the church’s organ. (Interestingly, the church was so prone to flooding that it was eventually destroyed and replaced with the “Silent Night Chapel”).

 

The gentleman who serviced the church’s organ asked to take a copy of the song with him, and from there, it was copied again and given to two different traveling folk singer families who began performing the song to the masses. It became quite popular and was performed around Europe and even brought to America. It was translated to English in 1859 by an Episcopal priest in New York City. It was the first of many translations. As of today, it is known to be sung in at least 140 other languages.

 

So let’s let the meaning of the words sink in as you click the link and let Michael Bublé sing this wonderful work:

 

Silent night, Holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

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.

Silent night, Holy night
Shepherds quake, at the sight
Glories stream from heaven above
Heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah.
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.

 

As I focused on the words of this song, the lines of the second verse struck me in a fresh way—the dawn of redeeming grace is truly what the Christmas story is all about! Christ came to earth to redeem us all from our sin, and in spite of the fact He was a helpless newborn laid in a feeding trough, Jesus was still Lord at His birth. What a beautiful picture!

 

It's Your Turn: Did you listen to the words of this old favorite with fresh ears? Did anything strike you in a new way as you listened? I’d love to hear about it.

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

COMING MARCH 1, 2022

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

Silent Night, Holy Night

 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht by Martha Rogers

 This is one of the most beloved carols of all time. Over 200 years old, the song is sung by congregations on Christmas Eve all over the world. It all began in a small town in Austria when a young priest by the name of Joseph Mohr was put in charge of the Christmas program at St. Nicholas church in Oberndorf. 

He worked hard on the program and chose the most loved carols of the time for that night. Mohr gave every spare moment of his time to plan the elaborate service. 

He imagined the grand sound in the church with the organ playing to great crescendos of music. However, circumstances kept getting in his way. The weather did not cooperate, the coldest weather in the town's history hit the economy, and members could not get to choir practice because of the ice. 

On Christmas Eve, Mohr went to the church to make sure everything would be read. When he tested the organ, it remained silent. Nothing he did would bring it to life. He rushed from the church to home of his friend Franz Gruber who had once studied organ. However, Gruber had no luck in getting the organ to work, but he offered to play his guitar and accompany the music, but it had to simple works and not the elaborate cantata Mohr had planned. As they leafed through the music, Mohr remembered a poem he had written one cold night in the town of Mariapfarr as he stood on a hill overlooking the peaceful, snow covered village. The majestic silence of the night and the Christmas card scene below inspired him to write of the birth of Jesus and the words flowed from his heart. 

Mohr raced home, found the poem and returned to the church. He gave it to Gruber who composed music for his guitar to play the song. The small church loved the song. 

Franz Gruber: composer of the music for Silent Night

Mohr raced home, found the poem and returned to the church. He gave it to Gruber who composed music for his guitar to play the song. The small church loved the song. 

Weeks later, the organ repair man, Karl Mauracher came to the church. Mohr told him about the Christmas Eve mishap with the organ and how they had used the guitar instead. Mohr then sang the song for Mauracher who was captivated by it. He jotted down the words, learned the melody, and then taught it to choirs all over Europe. Within ten years, thousands of choirs sang the song at Christmas. 

Two well-known families of singers, the Rainers, and the Strassers heard and were captivated by it as well. Both groups added the new song to their Christmas repertoires, and the Strasser sisters sang it across Europe.

This a copy of an early piece of the music.

In 1834, after hearing the carol sung by the Strasser sisters, King Frederick William IV of Prussia liked it so much that he ordered it to be sung by the choir at his cathedral every Christmas Eve. 

Twenty years after song was written, it came to the United States with the Rainers who sang it in German at New York City's Trinity Church.

By 1863 it had been translated in English, and in 1871 made its way into print in Charles Hutchins' Sunday School Hymnal. Today, the beautiful carol is sung around the world in more than 300 different languages.

The original St. Nicholas church was badly 

damaged by a flood in 1899. Because of the wide spread damage in the town, leaders decided to move the  town further away from the river. 

The chapel was demolished, but a cone shape made of debris is on the site today.  

In 1924, the construction of a memorial chapel proceeded slowly because of difficult political and economic conditions of Austria at the time. The chapel was finally completed on August 15, 1937.

Every year at Christmas, thousands of people from around the world visit the chapel and museum. At 5:00 P.M. every Christmas Eve, a memorial mass is held at the church and guests hear the beloved carol in their language. Since 2002, the event is transmitted by means of a local webcam on the internet. 

When I was in Salzburg, Austria on a church choir concert tour, we were only 10 miles away from the town. Our busy schedule did not give time for us to visit, and I've regretted that to this day. Now that I've learned more of the history, I'll think of Salzburg and the little chapel every time we sing the carol at our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service.

Do you have a favorite Christmas carol? This one is mine. 

Two years ago I wrote a Christmas story that was based on the Faith Center of our church. The center has a special Christmas event called the "Christmas Store" every year. In the book it became a party with Santa for the families who come to the center. 

 

Before Garrison Cole can access his inheritance from his grandmother, he must fulfill the stipulations of her will and use thousands of dollars she set aside to make Christmas special for Hope Center of her church and the children's hospital. Along the way he must work with Kelly Graves who only remembers him as the rich jerk back in high school who made fun of those who weren't in the elite circle. Can Christmas provide the magic for them both to discover true love.

Silent Night Memorial Chapel

On the expansive, cheerful grounds of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan, sits a peaceful white chapel, with a domed roof, reminiscent of its Austrian roots. The small building is a 1:1 scale replica of the Silent Night Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria. The Austrian chapel commemorates the spot where the much beloved Christmas song, “Silent Night” was first sung.

Silent Night Chapel - Oberndorf, Austria

 "Chapel2" by No machine-readable author provided. Gakuro assumed (based on copyright claims). CC 

The story has been told that the organ in the Tyrolean parish of St. Nicholas was broken. The assistant priest, Fr. Joseph Mohr, had written a poem which became the song’s lyrics. He asked his friend, the local schoolteacher and organist, Franz Xaver Gruber, to create a tune to go with his words. Gruber composed the music for “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve of 1818. Mohr played the guitar and the two men sang the song together that evening.

Musicians carried the song with them through Europe and eventually to America. The beautiful song has been translated into many languages, possibly more than any other Christmas hymn.

Old St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria

"Stnikola" by No machine-readable author provided. Gakuro assumed (based on copyright claims). CC    

Due to damages from floodwaters, a new St. Nicholas church was built on higher ground in 1906. In 1937, the little Silent Night Chapel was erected and dedicated in commemoration of the origin of the favorite song.

In 1976, Wally Bronner was on a buying trip for his Christmas Wonderland, when he visited the tranquil little Austrian chapel and decided building a replica would be a good way to show his thankfulness to God for the many blessings in his life. Wally had always desired to keep Christ in CHRISTmas with his store filled with Christmas decorations and nativity scenes. The sparkling, cheery environment at Bronner’s has been for many years a delight to the eyes and the heart.

With permission from Oberndorf’s city officials, the Bronners built a replica of the octagonal white chapel. Construction began in 1992 and the dedication took place later that year.

Silent Night Memorial Chapel - Frankenmuth, MI
mdprovost, 2008, CC

I can only describe visiting the Silent Night Chapel as a reverent experience. The diminutive place of worship inspires quiet meditation and prayer.

Wally Bronner sought to honor God, but also has shared with visitors a piece of history, a place to remember the origins of our beloved Christmas hymn, “Silent Night.” And perhaps, for a minute, give people a touch of what it would have been like to experience the first time it was sung in that Austrian parish nearly 200 years ago.

Merry Christmas! I'm giving away a copy of Christmas Treasures, an inspirational Christmas story anthology, to one lucky commenter! 

Kathleen Rouser was so enthralled with books, she wanted to write stories before she could read them. A past homeschooling mom and mild-mannered dental assistant, Kathleen writes from her home in Michigan, where she lives with her husband of 34 years, who not only listens to her stories, but also cooks for her. And let’s not forget her resident muse is a sassy tail-less cat named Lilybits.

Her debut novel, Rumors and Promises, from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, is coming out in April, 2016. Christmas Treasures contains Kathleen’s short story, “Special Assignment,” with a touch of humor and the supernatural.