1. Johann Nepomuk Hiernle, vicar and leader of music at Salzburg Cathedral, enabled Joseph Mohr to have an education and encouraged him in music.
11 Facts About Joseph Mohr
1. 2.
From 1808 to 1810, Joseph Mohr studied at the Benedictine monastery of Kremsmunster in the province of Upper Austria.
3.
Joseph Mohr then returned to Salzburg to attend the Lyceum school, and in 1811, he entered the seminary.
4.
On 21 August 1815, Joseph Mohr graduated and was ordained as a priest.
5.
Joseph Mohr brought with him a poem he had written some two years earlier.
6.
Joseph Mohr needed a carol for the Christmas Eve midnight Mass that was only a few hours away, and hoped his friend, a school teacher who served as the church's choir master and organist, could set his poem to music.
7.
Various legends have sprung up over the years concerning the genesis of "Silent Night", but the simplest and likeliest explanation seems to have been that Joseph Mohr simply wanted an original song that he could play on his favourite instrument, the guitar.
8.
Joseph Mohr died of respiratory disease on 4 December 1848, at the age of 55.
9.
Joseph Mohr's final resting place is in the tiny Alpine ski resort of Wagrain, where he died in 1848.
10.
The Joseph Mohr School stands as a fitting memorial, and close to the grave of the man who wrote the words heard around the world.
11.
An outdoor exhibit detailing the life of Joseph Mohr is situated on the walkway between the church and the parish house where he once lived.