Stille Nacht Stille Nacht"Silent Night" has been translated into nearly 300 languages and dialects. It became a carol 180 years ago when Rev. Joseph Mohr took a poem he had written in 1816 to his friend, Franz Xaver Gruber, and asked him to add a melody with accompaniment for guitar. That night, December 24, 1818, a song was born which has become an anchor for Christmas celebrations everywhere. Its lullaby-like melody and simple message of heavenly peace can be heard from small town street corners in mid-America to magnificent cathedrals in Europe and from outdoor candlelight concerts in Australia to palm-thatched huts in northern Peru.
Unfortunately the origins of the song have been embroiled in controversy for more than a century and the controversy continues today. Erroneous tales have been written by sentimental romantics to elaborate the circumstances surrounding the origin of "Silent Night." Many of these anecdotal stories (some found on the Internet) claim that Mohr wrote the words on Dec. 24, 1818 in order to provide a guitar-accompanied carol for Midnight Mass. They claim the church organ did not work because mice ate the bellows. Some have constructed elaborate scenarios for Fr. Mohr's inspiration; most of these taking place in 1818, in the outlying areas of Oberndorf. Others have attributed the melody to Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven rather than its real composer, Franz Gruber.
The most recent controversy involves claims by German-born author Hanno Schilf, who operates a Silent Night Museum in a building once thought to be the birthplace of Joseph Mohr. When the Governor of Salzburg, Franz Schausberger, announced that recent research has shown that 9 Steingasse is not the birthplace of the poet-priest, Schilf immediately stepped up his advertising for his museum with the claim, "The museum is at the historical birthplace from (sic) Joseph Mohr, creator of the Carol (sic) 'Silent night! Holy night!" In addition he claims that Joseph Mohr, not Franz Gruber, wrote the melody for "Silent Night." This, despite the fact that Schilf's museum displays a replica of a Mohr arrangement of "Stille Nacht" where one can see "Melodie von Franz Xav. Gruber" in Mohr's handwriting.
Schilf's book, which claims to be the story of how the carol originated reads like a Hollywood film script. It tells of a girl rescued from white-slavery, the burning of the city of Salzburg, and Franz Gruber at the zither while Joseph Mohr played guitar for the first performance of "Silent Night." When I asked Schilf where he found the source for the zither information, he said he added that for the American readers. He claimed that the audience in the United States would not be satisfied with a simple guitar being used for the premier of such a famous carol.
This is how history mixes with fantasy. Future historians may look at this fanciful tale and think it real. For six years, Schilf has claimed that his book will be made into a film. Hopefully, if that happens, people will regard it as the product of a vivid imagination rather than historic fact.
You can read accurate stories about this wonderful song by reading our Silent Night: True Story or by following the links on these two pages: Silent Night: Links and Silent Night: 180th Anniversary. There is no need for elaborate scenarios for this carol's powerful message of heavenly peace which has crossed all borders and language barriers, conquering the hearts of Christmas-celebrating people everywhere.