Austria’s festive gift to the world: Discover the story behind the song “Silent Night” in Salzburg

You might think that Salzburg is the quintessential Christmas destination, but row back to the 19th century and the Austrian city was anything but merry.

The Napoleonic Wars took their toll, and frequent flooding caused crop failure and food shortages.

The country needed something to lift its spirits, so in 1818 Joseph Mohr, a priest in the nearby village of Oberndorf on the banks of the Salzach River, decided a new Christmas carol could do the job.

He walked the few kilometers to the neighboring village of Arnsdorf to see his friend – the schoolmaster, composer and organist Franz Gruber – and asked if he could think of a melody for a poem he had written two years previously.

Mood-lifting: Lizzie Enfield travels to Salzburger Land to learn about the origins of the Christmas carol “Silent Night,” written in a 19th-century village near the city of Salzburg (above).

Gruber did, and on Christmas Eve in Oberndorf’s Nikolaikirche, Mohr played the new melody on his guitar while the two sang Silent Night, Holy Night – Silent Night, Holy Night.

None of the men could have imagined how it would resonate for generations and around the world.

The Christmas carol has been translated into 150 languages ​​and has been recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley and Nat King Cole, to Simon and Garfunkel and Sinead O’Connor.

Its success was largely due to two touring bands of Tyrolean family singers, the Rainers and Strassers, who made it to the courts of Austria and Russia and as far away as New York City.

The audience assumed that the Christmas carol came from a famous composer, perhaps Mozart, Salzburg’s most famous son, or Haydn or Beethoven.

Gruber heard about these rumors and set the record straight by writing a letter stating his authorship. Early drafts of this letter are among the many artefacts, including Mohr’s guitar, now on display in Hallein’s Silent Night Museum.

The Silent Night Museum in Hallein, pictured here, keeps early drafts of a letter by the composer and organist Franz Gruber, in which he states his authorship of Silent Night, Holy Night

It is located in Gruber’s later home next to the church, where he was organist and choir director until his death in 1863.

But this is just one of six Silent Night museums in the area – alongside a carol symbolizing Christmas, the duo have unwittingly spawned a Silent Night tourism industry to rival that of The Sound Of Music.

Today the main attraction is the Silent Night Chapel, built on the spot where Mohr and Gruber first performed. This simple building with stained glass windows depicting Mohr and Gruber on either side attracts up to 5,000 visitors each Christmas Eve.

Others flock here in Advent when it’s surrounded by one of Austria’s fabled Christmas markets, and just opposite Silent Night Square is another museum detailing the life of Mohr and his parishioners.

The Silent Night Chapel pictured here in Oberndorf was built on the spot where the pastor Joseph Mohr and the composer Gruber premiered Stille Nacht

The schoolhouse in Arnsdorf also has an exhibition dedicated to its most famous incumbent and is only open on weekends and bank holidays as it is still the local school.

One might think there is only so much to say about Silent Night, but each museum has been carefully curated to tell different sides of the story. The two men were not only the authors of an enduring Christmas carol, but hardworking figures whose personal stories shed light on the tale of a time more commonly told through the movements of bishops, archdukes and emperors.

Like many people, I have sung Silent Night every Christmas since I can remember. Embarking on a pilgrimage that sheds light on its roots gives greater meaning to the carol. And to stand next to the altar where it was first performed with fellow pilgrims from America and Japan was to experience the true poignancy of the words and the music.

And the familiar melody rings out around the world long before the Advent season in shopping centers as well as in churches and school halls. But in Austria commercial use of Stille Nacht is forbidden and tradition dictates that it must not be played until Christmas Eve.

When “Silent Night” plays for the first time every year, silence returns via the Christmas markets around the Salzburg Cathedral (pictured).

Only then does the busy Christmas markets around the Salzburg Cathedral, the small square in Oberndorf and numerous other churches across the country suddenly quiet down.

And only then does a solo voice cut through the cold night air with the poignant, instantly recognizable phrase.

Whether it’s Silent Night, Douce Nuit, Noche de Paz, or one of the many other incarnations of Silent Night, the message of hope remains the same. And therein lies the enduring appeal of a song that began in hard times but firmly placed Oberndorf and the surrounding towns and villages on the map.