STILLE NACHT 1818

Carols are synonymous with Christmas. One of the favourite carol all over the world is “Silent Night” which in German is “Stille Nacht.” It was originally written as a poem, by a young priest named Joseph Mohr in 1816. The music was composed by Franz Gruber, and was first played for the Christmas Eve programme of St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, in 1818.

Joseph Mohr, was in despair as Christmas of 1818 drew close: the organ at his church was down, and the chances of fixing it before the evening service were slim.

The young Joseph had an idea. A few years before, he had written a rather beautiful poem called ‘Stille Nacht.’ So, he asked Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolmaster and organist in a nearby town, to set his six-stanza poem to music.

The ‘Stille Nacht’ was written at a difficult time. Twelve years of Napoleonic wars devastated Europe. The eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Tambora in 1815 caused severe changes in climate. The eruption caused almost continuous storms – even snow – in the middle of summer. Crops failed, and there was widespread famine. Mohr’s congregation was poverty-stricken, hungry and traumatized because of these circumstances. [Encyclopaedia Britannica]

The poem turned Christmas carol, proclaimed to one and all, that in the midst of harsh realities of life, and the added natural calamities, there is hope available in God. We need not be troubled by the circumstances, but rather trust God.

The original German version of the carol states, “today all the power of fatherly love is poured out, and Jesus as brother embraces the peoples of the world.” Therefore, let us trust God, even if all that is around us doesn’t make much sense, and troubles seem to multiply. The LORD is with us and that is what matters the most. He will see us through.