Silent Night, Holy Night, the Basler Liedertafel and the Münster

15 December 2025

The eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia in April 1815 caused a significant cooling of the Earth. It was the largest recorded eruption, killing 90,000 people and sending about 150 cubic kilometres of dust and ash thirty kilometres into the atmosphere. The force was equal to 170,000′ Hiroshima bombs’.

The cooling was also felt in Switzerland and other countries of Central Europe. It snowed in the valleys and rained continuously in the summer months. 1815 and 1816 were years without a summer, and the times around 1818 were particularly challenging, following the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815).

Floods, poor harvests, and a great famine resulted. This period lasted until 1819, when average temperatures returned to normal. It also marked the last great famine in Switzerland, particularly in the northeastern part of the new Confederation, which was founded in 1815.

The dust and ash in the atmosphere also changed the colours of the sunrise and sunset. The sunlight reflected, and beautiful violet, orange, red, blue, and green combinations could be seen (see also the romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich (1176-1840)  in this context).

However, it did not alleviate hunger in Switzerland and the surrounding areas. The Austrian Father Joseph Mohr (1792-1848) and Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) brought spiritual relief.

They composed “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” for Christmas 1818 in and for the hungry village of Oberndorf (near Salzburg). They were also the first to perform it in the church on Christmas Eve 2018. The Stille Nacht-Kapelle (Silent Night Chapel) now stands on the site of the former church (demolished at the beginning of the 20th century).

In Oberndorf, the song signalled solidarity and comfort. Within a few years, it was also known in Switzerland, despite the absence of social media, due to the quality of the composition.

Today, ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ is the most successful Christmas carol of all time (and not the modern carols). More than two billion people sing it in over 300 languages and dialects, with many variations, as it was also performed on 14 December by the Basler Liedertafel choir and the audience at the cathedral.

However, it did not earn its creators any money or royalties. Joseph Mohr died poor, Franz Xaver Gruber moved to Hallein and found recognition, but no rappen for his ‘hit’.

(Source: Stille Nacht Museum Hallein; Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz)