186 Years of "Silent Night" 1818-2004
Photograph
Interior of the Silent Night Chapel, Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. Stained-glass window depicting Josef Mohr, the writer of the lyrics for "Silent Night." With a brief history of the chapel.Photograph copyright © Hyde Flippo. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this image in any form, electronic or otherwise, requires express written permission. Downloading for one-time, individual use (homework) is allowed only for non-Web, non-commercial, private purposes—provided that proper credit notice is given.The world's most famous Christmas song, "Silent Night," was brought to life near Salzburg by two music-loving Austrian "men of the cloth." Two stained-glass windows in the Stille-Nacht-Kapelle in Oberndorf bei Salzburg honor the carol's creators. According to the inscription seen at the bottom right of the Mohr window pictured here, it was donated to the chapel by the Ostmärkischer Sängerbund (choir) of Vienna in 1935. The top half of the window shows "Vikar Josef Mohr" gazing upward, quill in hand. In the lower half we see an image of the now-demolished parish church (Pfarrkirche) in which Mohr's lyrics were first sung in 1818. - Next to the photograph you will find the full text of the window's inscription with an English translation.
Photograph copyright © Hyde Flippo.
All rights reserved.
The full text of the window's inscription (with English translation):
"Vikar Josef Mohr schuf hier den Text des Liedes.
Stille Nacht / heilige Nacht
Oberndorf
Hier stand die alte Pfarrkirche / in welcher das Lied 1818 das erstemal zur Christmette gesungen wurde.
Stifter: Ostmärkischer Sängerbund, Wien 1935."
English translation:
"Curate Josef Mohr created the text of the song here.
Silent Night / Holy Night
Oberndorf
Here stood the former parish church / in which the song was sung for the first time during Christmas mass in 1818.
Donor: Ostmärkischer Sängerbund (choir), Vienna 1935."
Both the Mohr window seen here and the Franz Gruber window (not pictured here) were fabricated in Innsbruck by the Tyrolean Stained Glass Institute (Tiroler Glasmalereianstalt). The Gruber window was donated by the Wiener Schubertbund, or Schubert Association of Vienna, also in 1935.
The Silent Night Chapel itself was designed by architect Josef Dietzinger. Construction spanned some 13 years between groundbreaking ceremonies in 1924 and formal dedication in 1937. The chapel's foundation was completed in 1928, the stained-glass windows donated and installed in 1935, the altar in 1936. The finished chapel was dedicated on August 15, 1937. Each year about 150,000 people from all over the world visit the Stille-Nacht-Kapelle in Oberndorf.SOURCE: Manfred M.K. Fischer, Director, Silent Night and Local Heritage Museum, Oberndorf b. Salzburg.
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