Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
German Nursery Rhyme
Original Lyrics
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!Alles schläft; einsam wachtNur das traute heilige Paar.Holder Knab im lockigten Haar,Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!Gottes Sohn! O wie lachtLieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.Jesus in deiner Geburt!Jesus in deiner Geburt!
English meaning
Silent night! Holy night!All are asleep; onlyThe dear holy couple keeps watch.Lovely boy with curly hair,Sleep in heavenly rest!Sleep in heavenly rest!
Silent night! Holy night!Son of God! How love shinesIn the smile of your divine lips,As the hour of our salvation strikes.Jesus, in your birth!Jesus, in your birth!
Translation Notes
Translation Notes
The English above follows the German meaning line by line. The familiar singing version Silent Night uses the same melody with different wording and verse order.
Find more songs in the Christmas nursery rhymes and carols collection.
History and Meaning
The first verse is a lullaby. Everyone sleeps while Mary and Joseph keep watch, and the singer asks the curly-haired baby to rest. In the second verse, the sleeping child becomes the focus of the singer's joy.
Who wrote Stille Nacht?
Joseph Mohr wrote the words in 1816. Franz Xaver Gruber set them to music in 1818, and the two first performed the carol in Oberndorf, Austria, on Christmas Eve. The two verses above open Gruber's six-verse manuscript known as Autograph VII, written around 1860. Stille Nacht Society's manuscript text.
How do you say Stille Nacht?
Try SHTIL-uh nahkht, with the ch in Nacht as in Scots loch. The word wacht means “keeps watch”. Ruh is a shortened form of Ruhe, meaning “rest”.
Lyrics from nurseryrhymes.info