Before we could return to the Philippines for good after living and working in beautiful Vienna for over 20 years, it was most important for my husband and me to visit the place where the famous Christmas carol was born.
The
Christmas carol Silent Night was originally in German entiled Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. Its birthplace is a town in Salzburg Province nearest
to the Salzach River. At its northern basin, the river serves as the border
between Salzburg, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. You just look across the river
from Oberndorf, and you see Germany up close!
Direction to the 'Silent Night' Chapel and Museum.
Photo credit: Josette Mabasa Berger
Photo credit: Josette Mabasa Berger
It was in
the little Church of St. Nikolaus at
the town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg where the Stille Nacht was first sang on Christmas Eve in 1818. The assisting
priest at the time, Joseph Mohr, requested the musician Franz Xaver Gruber to compose a Christmas
melody with the accompaniment of a guitar as the church’s organ was kaputt and
they needed to play something for their Christmas Eve service. Joseph Mohr thought
of using his old poem as lyrics for the melody.
The St. Nicholas Church at Oberndorf bei Salzburg.
Photo credit: Josette Mabasa Berger
Photo credit: Josette Mabasa Berger
Two groups
of Austrian family singers ― the
Rainers and the Strassers ― unconsciously helped in popularizing
the song initially. It worked
like magic as the song became well-known.
Stille Nacht
was translated into English 45 years after it was first sung. An American from
Pittston, Maine ― John Freeman Young ― did the translation in 1863 while he was
assigned at Trinity Church in New York. Now, the song is available in more than
300 languages. Since the 1800s many choirs included the song in their Christmas
repertoire every year that it has become the most popular Christmas carol in
the whole world.
In March 2011, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht as an
Intangible Cultural Heritage, which means that it is preserved and its continued
existence protected.
The handwritten Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Composition by Joseph Mohr.
Composition by Joseph Mohr.
