Latest edition : 23 December 2018
To find the origin of "Stille Nacht", head to Austria, Tyrol and the region of Salzburg. There, small museums in Wagrain, Fügen, Hochburg and Arnsdorf tell the story of this luminous song, which goes around the world every year during the Advent period.
This beautiful story begins in 1816. In a region martyred by war, a young priest, Joseph Mohr, writes a poem that expresses the hope for a better and peaceful life. Two years later, wanting to offer a beautiful ceremony to his parishioners, he asked his friend Franz Gruber, teacher and organist, to set this poem to music.
It was in the Arnsdorf school that Franz Gruber composed the famous melody. The building still accommodates schoolchildren but also houses a small museum upstairs.
Two years later, Christmas is still brewing in the small village of Oberndorf, not far from Salzburg. After midnight mass, Mohr and Gruber sing Stille Nacht with a guitar for only accompaniment. The simple text and the melody, composed like a lullaby, with the sweetness of a slow waltz, touch the hearts of parishioners.
A commercial success
An organ builder, Karl Mauracher, would have heard it in Oberndorf and introduced families of Tyrolean singers.
Ten years later, the song was ranked number 1 in the United States. A success due in particular to the Rainer family.
After performing it with great success before Tsar Alexander I and Austrian Emperor Francis I in the village of Fügen, the Rainers begin a real tour of Europe. The Rainers are making a fortune. They perform in the United States, Russia, Turkey. With their musical performances, they became somewhat of the "pop stars" of the time.
Another family spread Stille Nacht: the Strasser, street vendors from Tyrol. To attract customers to their stand offering gloves, they too sing the famous Christmas hymn. He was so popular that the Strassers were invited to perform in theaters and churches. They definitely give up their business to devote themselves to song ...
Long regarded as a simple folk song from this mountainous region, it was not attributed to Franz Gruber until 1854, following a request for official recognition from the composer. An original score, kept at the Salzburg Museum, attests to this.
International hymn of peace
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht is not just another Christmas carol: it is an international hymn of peace. In 1914, a few months after the start of the First World War, he was at the heart of the "miracle of fraternization": on December 24, the guns fell silent in the trenches on the Ypres front in Belgium. Soldiers of several nationalities celebrate the “Christmas of the war”. They play football together, exchange small presents and sing Stille Nacht, Douce nuit, Silent night, each in their own language. All share the same wish: that peace returns.
Two hundred years after its creation, song has become a true universal hymn, registered in the intangible heritage of Unesco since March 2011.
To celebrate its bicentenary, many museums and villages offer exhibitions, thematic trails to explore, a dedicated website, a musical, a TV movie, concerts, books and CDs ... and even a beer called "Stille Nacht" !
Travel around the world in Wagrain
The new museum in Wagrain, a village that houses the last home of parish priest Joseph Mohr, reveals the international dimension of "Stille Nacht"
On the exterior cladding, stanzas by Stille Nacht are silhouetted against a large bay window. Pushing open the door of the museum, in the Pflegerschlössl, a baroque-style gem, you set off on a journey through time and around the world.
While the museum traces the history of Wagrain and its region, its heart beats to the rhythm of the famous Christmas carol. We learn, of course, the circumstances of its composition and its interpretation in 1818. We learn that its worldwide success is based on its translation into more than 300 languages and dialects: Chinese, Armenian, Hawaiian, Persian, Turkish ... A version has even was sent from Lambaréné, in Gabon, by a certain… Albert Schweitzer!
The meaning of the translated texts is often quite distant from the original and even from its religious context.
The interactive presentation of the museum makes its visit particularly interesting. When you run your finger over a globe, images of Christmas appear. Anyone can also send a few photographs, a short video or a text, to feed this beautiful animation. On a wall, the title of the song is available in many languages and a simple click allows you to discover nearly 200 translations.
Listening a few versions in a foreign language, like Chinese or Korean, we have to face the facts: no matter the language, the magic of the song always operates, so much is the melody in our collective memory.
