The lyrics had already been written by Joseph Mohr in 1816 and Gruber composed the according melody in 1818 – for following reason: The organ of the church had become unplayable at the time of the said Christmas eve (Following the legend, mice played an important part in that case …) and therefore an alternative had to be found. With the guitar alone, Gruber accompanied the chorus performing the lyrics of Mohr. Lyrics and melody were warmly welcomed by the church-goers and the new Christmas song took his way around the world.

The Tyrolean organ builder Mr. Mauracher took the song along to a performance in Leipzig/Germany where it was received with the same enthusiasm by the audience. Soon, the song was performed all around Germany and around the world, which led to translations into more the 300 languages and dialects!