Which carol was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf, Austria?

The carol first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf, Austria, was “Silent Night.”

Originally titled “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,” the carol was created by Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber. Mohr wrote the text as a poem in 1816, while Gruber composed the melody in 1818. The first performance took place on December 24, 1818, at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg.

Mohr sang and accompanied the song on guitar, while Gruber sang the second vocal part. A popular later story says the church organ was unusable because mice damaged it, but historians treat that detail as an anecdotal legend rather than firmly established fact.

The song spread beyond Oberndorf through traveling singers from the Zillertal. It eventually became one of the world’s most widely translated and recorded Christmas carols. The original German title is still used in Austria and Germany, while “Silent Night” is the familiar English title.