It's a song about a calm and bright silent night, and the wonder of a tender and mild newborn child, words written in 1816 by a young priest in Austria, Joseph Mohr, not long after the Napoleonic wars had taken their toll.

Who wrote Silent Night and when was it written?

"Silent Night" (German: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht") is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.

Is Silent Night a true story?

There's a wonderful story about the carol “Silent Night.” Supposedly, the song was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818, just a few hours after it had been written. ... But as heartwarming as this tale sounds, it's not entirely true. Joseph Mohr actually wrote the lyrics to “Silent Night” several years before, in 1816.