Stille Nacht Konzert

Snapshot

Christmas Eve, at the chapel in Oberndorf bei Salzburg built on the site where Silent Night was first performed in 1818. Intimate, deliberate, and for many visitors the most memorable hour of a December trip to Salzburg.

The Story

On 24 December 1818, in the village of Oberndorf north of Salzburg, a young priest named Joseph Mohr and a schoolteacher named Franz Xaver Gruber performed a song for the first time at the local church: Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. Mohr had written the text two years earlier; Gruber composed the melody that evening for two voices and guitar. The church where this happened no longer stands. In its place, the Stille Nacht Kapelle was built as a memorial to the event.

Each Christmas Eve, a concert is held at the chapel. It is a small event: the capacity is limited, the setting is precise, and the moment when Stille Nacht is sung in the location where it was created for the first time is exactly what it sounds like. Visitors come from across Austria and Germany specifically for this. Some have been coming for years.

Oberndorf bei Salzburg is a quiet town without much other tourist infrastructure. The chapel is its primary reason for existing on international itineraries, and the Christmas Eve concert is the chapel’s primary moment. The S-Bahn from Salzburg runs the route in approximately 30 minutes, making the logistics simple.

Visiting

The Christmas Eve concert at the Stille Nacht Kapelle in Oberndorf bei Salzburg. S-Bahn from Salzburg, approximately 30 minutes. Check stillenacht.at for concert times and any reservation requirements; capacity is limited. Visit the chapel on other dates in December as well; it is open and accessible outside the concert period. Combine with the Christkindlmarkt Salzburg for a full December programme in the region.