200th Anniversary of Silent Night

A History of "Silent Night" Joseph Mohr was born in Salzburg, Austria, the home of Mozart and, later, of the Von Trapp singers—one of the most musical towns in the world. He became the priest of the parish church of Saint Nicholas in the nearby village of Oberndorf, and there he served alongside the organist and musician Franz Gruber, who was also a local schoolmaster.  As Christmas Eve of 1818 approached, Mohr and Gruber faced a challenge. The church organ wasn’t working properly (many believe that mice had chewed through the bellows!) and the two men labored over how to make their traditional service special.  Going through his papers, Mohr handed Gruber a poem he had written and asked him to set to music. If they couldn’t use the organ, they could at least introduce an original carol, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Mohr hastily composed a melody, and on a snowclad night in the Tyrolian Alps, December 24, 1818 – two hundred years ago – the population of little Oberndorf gathered in the Church of St. Nicholas to hear Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht for the first time. Later the organ repair man, Karl Mauracher, showed up and heard the story. Asking for a copy of the carol, he soon spread it through the Alpine region of Austria, where it came to the attention of families of local folk singers. Silent Night quickly gained fame across Europe. It was clear that there was something very special about this particular carol and it continues to serve as a beacon of truth for families and churches to this day.   -------------Originally shared by Keith and Kristin Getty Silent Night with Phil Keaggy