Silent night on Austrian stamps

Jack J. Reber 

     P.O. Box 2239, Ramona, Calif. 92065-0938

 APS 70308 Austrian Philatelic Society of U.S. 1068

                                                

          

For my free 28-page list of Austrian and Bosnian stamps, write to: 2reberjack@gmail.com

                        December, 2016

Dear Friends:

            There is a good story connected with the Christmas song “Silent Night.” In fact, there are several stories. Are any of them true? Which ones? Your vote is as good as mine.

            Some things are not argued: The song was written by Franz Gruber and Josef Mohr in 1818. You see them pictured on Austria #558  and #1417. Scott #823 shows the crèche in the memorial chapel in Oberndorf, where the song was written. #2478 shows Gruber and the memorial chapel at Oberndorf.

            One popular story says that early Christmas Eve Mohr and Gruber met at the Oberndorf church to prepare for Christmas Mass. Mohr was the priest, and Gruber was a teacher and the church organist. They discovered mice had chewed through the organ’s bellows. No music. But wait. Mohr remembered a poem he had written two years ago. Could Gruber provide music suitable for a guitar? Remarkably, he did, and the song premiered at midnight mass.

            Another version says Mohr walked to Gruber’s house in Arnsdorf bei Laufen. He brought a poem he had written a couple of years earlier, and he liked guitar music. No mention of a busted organ.

            Another story says the song didn’t make the hit parade for a very long time. In 1853 King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia heard the song as part of a program of Christmas carols at the Royal Castle in Berlin. He loved it, but no one knew who had written it. He ordered a search, first in Berlin, then in Vienna. He learned that the song was very popular in Austria, but no one knew who had written it. He launched a second search, this time in Salzburg. The researcher said it probably was written by Joseph Haydn.

            In 1854, a local music expert hears a boy in Salzburg whistling the song. He corrects the boy, saying he should not be whistling the song in D major and six-eight time. The boy insists he knows he is correct because his father wrote the song. And that’s how the creators were identified.

            At this point Gruber tells yet another story of the song’s creation. He said Mohr was walking back through the snow and the quiet after a baptism and the words just came to him, meaning it was not a two-year-old poem. He also said the organ was broken.

            Franz Xavier Gruber was born in 1787 and died in 1863. Josephus Franciscus Mohr was born in 1792 and died in 1848. His mother was an unmarried embroiderer and his father an army deserter who disappeared before the child was born. It was customary for children to be named after the baptism godfather, and that was the official executioner in Salzburg, named Joseph Wohlmuth.

            Fame never caught up with either man. Their tombstones say nothing about this world-famous song. In 1937, that memorial chapel in #2478 was built on the spot where the song was first performed, and their names are on a monument there. Every Christmas thousands gather at this chapel and sing the song in many languages.

                                                                                                Regards,           Jack

 

A hero, for a while

Jack J. Reber 

     P.O. Box 2239, Ramona, Calif. 92065-0938

 APS 70308 Austrian Philatelic Society of U.S. 1068

                                                

          

For my free 28-page list of Austrian and Bosnian stamps, write to: 2reberjack@gmail.com

                

  

          Who is the most famous Austrian of the past 100 years? I’ll express my opinion at the bottom of this article, but let’s talk about my choice for No. 2.

          Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (shown on Scott #1961) was born July 30, 1947. He grew up in Graz, Austria, and the suburb of Thal. He was not born into wealth. His father was a policeman. He had been a Nazi and German soldier, but was discharged because of malaria. According to Arnold, he was a very strict father.

          Young Schwarzenegger started body-building at age 15. In 1965 he reported for the obligatory year in the Austrian army. He served prison time while in the army because he went AWOL to compete as a body builder. Arnold left Austria in 1966, spent some time in London and came to the U.S.in 1968.

          His first big movie, “Conan the Barbarian,” didn’t come until 1982. By that time Arnold had won the Mr. Universe title four times. Through investments and good business ventures, he already was a millionaire before his movie career began.

          In 2003, Arnold was elected governor of California. The little boy from Austria was atop the world – famous as a body-builder, immensely successful in his movies and now a plum political job. Austrians were immensely proud. But that pride dimmed in 2005, because of something Arnold refused to do.

          Let’s step back. In 1979 gang-banger Tookie Williams was convicted of four murders. In 1981 Donald Beardslee, already on parole for murder, was convicted of murdering two women in a botched drug deal. Williams and Beardslee were sentenced to death.

          By 2005, each man had run out of appeals. They had only one chance. By California law, the last step before an execution is an automatic appeal to the governor, who has the option to change the sentence to life in prison without parole.

          In each case, Swarzenegger declined to sign for clemency. This hit Austrians like a ton of bricks. To many, many Austrians, the phase “Thou shalt not kill” is interpreted to mean “Thou shalt not kill.” No, Arnold did not personally kill anyone, but he had a chance to save a life and he refused. That was his crime.

          A 15,000 seat stadium in Graz had been named for him in 1997. Under cover of darkness, the sign with his name came down. The city council approved a measure to withdraw his name. Before a formal vote could be taken, Schwarzengger wrote, denying further permission to use his name.

          In Parliament there was a motion to revoke Arnold’s Austrian citizenship. There is a law permitting that when someone damages Austria’s reputation.

          Arnold’s reputation took another big hit in later years, of course. In 2011 Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years, moved out, a couple of weeks before it was reported that14 years earlier Schwarzenegger had fathered a son by one of their housekeepers. The birth was kept secret until people started noticing how much the boy looked like Arnold.

          And who was the most famous Austrian of the past 100 years? My vote goes to Adolph Hitler. I won’t argue with anyone who wants to add Sigmund Freud into the top three.

                                                                                  regards, Jack