200 Years of Singing “Silent Night”
Author Josef Mohr and composer Franz Xaver Gruber performed their Christmas carol, “Silent Night,” for the first time on December 24, 1818. The setting was St. Nikolaus Church in Oberndorf, Austria, near Salzburg.
This Christmas is the 200th anniversary of “Silent Night.” Ray’s and my first stop at Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland was at Silent Night Memorial Chapel. The Bronner family constructed this exact replica of the Silent Night Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria.
Here are some interior scenes from the chapel at Bronner’s.
The 1994 staff of Bronner’s gave the family these stained glass windows to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the business.
The chapel in Austria opened in 1937. It was constructed on the site St. Nikolaus Church where Mohr and Gruber first performed the carol in 1818. That chapel has an adjacent museum. One of the museum’s purposes is to tell the story of the carol spreading around the world.
Inside the chapel at Bronner’s are the words of Luke 2:1-19 in languages from around the world. The writer of Hebrews used historic stories of faith to encourage faith in his readers. As you enjoy singing “Silent Night” this Christmas, remind your children that for two hundred years Christians from many nations have remembered Jesus’ birth through the words of “Silent Night.”
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2