<Tr> <Th> Performed </Th> <Td> 24 December 1818 (1818 - 12 - 24) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Published </Th> <Td> 1833 (1833) </Td> </Tr> <P> "Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria . It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011 . The song has been recorded by a large number of singers from every music genre . The version sung by Bing Crosby is the third best - selling single of all - time . </P> <P> The song was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present - day Austria . A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before . He had written the lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as a co-adjutor . </P>

Where was the song silent night first sung