Exactly 200 years ago this Christmas Eve -- December 24, 1818 -- in a little church in what is now Austria, the world heard for the first time a poem set to music that eventually would be hailed as one of the most popular and beloved Christmas carols of all time.
"Silent Night" was sung for the first time that Christmas Eve at a midnight Mass at St Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire. The lyrics were written by a young Catholic priest, Fr Joseph Mohr, and the music was composed by Francis Xavier Gruber, an organist and school master.
