O du fröhliche
(O You Joyful [Time])

GERMAN
O du fröhliche, o du selige,
gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Welt ging verloren, Christ ist geboren:
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

O du fröhliche, o du selige,
gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Christ ist erschienen, uns zu versöhnen:
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

O du fröhliche, o du selige,
gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Himmlische Heere jauchzen Dir Ehre:
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

ENGLISH
O you joyful, O you blessed,
grace-bringing Christmas time!
The world was lost, Christ was born:
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christendom!

O you joyful, O you blessed,
grace-bringing Christmas time!
Christ appeared to atone for us:
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christendom!

O you joyful, O you blessed,
grace-bringing Christmas time!
Heavenly armies rejoice in your honor:
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christendom!


Johannes Daniel Falk (1768–1826), a German publisher and poet born in Danzig, wrote the original words for “O du fröhliche.” After losing four of his seven children to typhoid fever, Falk founded the Falk’sche Institute, a public education institution for orphans in Weimar. For this song (originally a hymn) he set the one-verse lyrics to the melody of the anonymous hymn “O Sanctissima” (“O Most Holy”), which in turn was based on an old Sicilian fishermen’s song, sometimes referred to as the “Sicilian Mariners Hymn,” which was first published in London in 1792. Shortly after Falk died in Weimar, his former assistant, Heinrich Holzschuher (1798–1847) of Wunsiedel added two more verses to create the carol that is sung today.