"''Sei uns willkommen, Herre Christ''" is the earliest surviving

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

hymn in the German language. It originated as a leise and its melody is first recorded as a fragment in the Liuthar Gospels at

Aachen Cathedral Treasury The Aachen Cathedral Treasury () is a museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen under the control of the cathedral chapter, which houses one of the most important collections of medieval church artworks in Europe. In 1978, the Aachen Cathe ...

, probably dating to the 14th century. The earliest complete surviving version is in a manuscript from

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

dating to 1394.

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben August Heinrich Hoffmann (, calling himself von Fallersleben, after his hometown; 2 April 179819 January 1874) was a German poet. He is best known for writing "", whose third stanza is now the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular ...

saw the hymn as originating in the 11th century and in 1861 reconstructed a translation from the Erfurt version back into

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

: ''Geschichte des deutschen Kirchenliedes bis auf Luthers Zeit.'' 1861, pp. 29f. The song welcomes the Lord Christ ("''Herre Christ''") on earth ("''auf Erden''") as the Lord of "us all" ("''unser aller''"). The hymn is also known as the ''Aachener Weihnachtslied'' (

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

) or ''Aachener Schöffenlied'' (Aachen juror carol) – according to old Aachen chronicles it was sung from the

choir stalls A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

Aachen Cathedral Aachen Cathedral () is a Catholic Church, Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the cathedral of the Diocese of Aachen. One of the oldest cathedral buildings in Europe, it was constructed as the royal chapel of the Palace of Aachen of Holy Rom ...

by the ''schöffen'', appointed honourable citizens involved in general government and

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

, at

Midnight Mass In many Western Christian traditions, Midnight Mass is the first liturgy of Christmastide that is celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve, traditionally beginning at midnight when Christmas Eve gives way to Christmas Day. This popular Christm ...

on Christmas Eve.

Christian Quix Christian Quix (8 October 1773, Hoensbroek – 13 January 1844, Aachen) was a Roman Catholic priest, heimatforscher (local historian) and from 1833 the director of the Stadtbibliothek Aachen, the city library of Aachen. Life The son of a typica ...

: ''Historische Beschreibung der Münsterkirche und der Heiligthumsfahrt in Aachen.'' Urlichs, Aachen 1825, p. 119 ().

Melody

''Sei uns willkommen, Herre Christ'' appeared in the 1975 ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speak ...

'', a German Catholic

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...

, as GL 131 with a 14th or 15th century melody from Aachen in modern notation and with the addition of a new second verse from 1970. It is no longer included in the main section of the new ''

'', introduced on the first Sunday of

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

in 2013, but the regional section of the

Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne. Its territory encompasses parts of the States ...

includes it as GL 757. The current Protestant hymnal ''

Evangelisches Gesangbuch ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (''EG''; , "Protestantism, Protestant song book") is the current hymnal of German-language congregations in Germany, Alsace and Lorraine, Austria, and Luxembourg, which was introduced from 1993 and 1996, succeeding ...

'' (EG 22) includes it as a

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

under the title ''Nun sei uns willkommen, Herre Christ'', with a 1934

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

melody by Walter Rein.

Ancient melody

\relative c' \addlyrics \addlyrics Source:Hans Jürgen Roth: ''Haus zweier Welten – 1200 Jahre Aachener Dom.'' B. Kühlen, Mönchengladbach 1999,
p. 50

Modern melody

Source: ''Gotteslob'' (1975) nr. 131

Lyrics

In ''

Deutscher Liederhort The ''Deutscher Liederhort'' is a large collection of Volkslieder (folk-songs), now considered their authoritative source. It is often abbreviated as "Erk-Böhme" after its editors Ludwig Erk and Franz Magnus Böhme Franz Theodor Magnus Böhme ( ...

'' (1894),

Ludwig Erk Ludwig Christian Erk (6 January 1807, Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important ...

and

Franz Magnus Böhme Franz Theodor Magnus Böhme (11 March 1827 in Willerstedt – 18 October 1898 in Dresden) was a German academic, musicologist, composer, folksong collector and writer on music history and folksong. Biography The son of a farmer, Böhme became ...

give two Dutch versions of the lyrics and the following three German versions:

First version

Aachen fragment, 14th or 15th century

''Syt willekomen, heirre kirst'', – Be ye welcome, Lord Christ ''want du unser alre herre bis''. – May you be our lord of all

Erfurt manuscript c. 1394

''Sys willekomen heirre kerst,'' – Be ye welcome, Lord Christ ''want du onser alre heirre bis,'' – ''May you be our lord of all ''sys willekomen, lieve heirre,'' – ''Be ye welcome, dear Lord ''her in ertrische also schone:'' – ''lord on earth thus beautiful ''Kirieleys.'' – ''

Kyrie eleison ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

Second version – Aachen 1825

''Nun siet uns willekomen, hero kerst,'' ''Die ihr unser aller hero siet.'' ''Nu siet uns willekomen, lieber hero,'' ''Die ihr in den kirchen schöne siet.'' ''Kyrie-eleyson!'' ''Nun ist gott geboren, unser aller trost,'' ''Der die höllsche pforten mit seinem kreutz aufstoes.'' ''Die mutter hat geheischen maria,'' ''Wie in allen kersten-bucheren geschriben steht.'' ''Kyrie-eleyson!''

Third version – re-issue by Fallersleben, 1861

''Nu sîs uns willekomen hêrro Crist,'' ''du unser aller hero bist!'' ''nu sîs uns willekomen lieber herro,'' ''der du in den kirchen stast scôno.'' ''Kyrieleison.'' ''Nu ist uns geborn unser aller trôst'' ''der die hellischen porten mit sîm kriuze ûfslôz.'' ''diu mueter ist geheizen Marjâ,'' ''also in allen kristen buechen stât.'' ''Kyrieleison.''

Bibliography (in German)

(ed.): ''

. Auswahl der vorzüglicheren Deutschen Volkslieder, nach Wort und Weise aus der Vorzeit und Gegenwart.'' Band 3. Breitkopf und Härtel, Leipzig 1894 (Nachdruck: Olms, Hildesheim 1988), pp. 625f.
Digitalisat
. * Johannes Janota: ''Sit willekomen herre kirst.'' In: Kurt Ruh (Hrsg.): ''Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters.

Verfasserlexikon The Verfasserlexikon (full title: ''Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon'') is a Medieval German literature reference book. Currently in its second fully revised edition, it comprises various encyclopaedic articles and acco ...

.'' Band 8. de Gruyter, Berlin 1992, , Sp. 1287–1288
Digitalisat
. * Theo Mang, Sunhilt Mang (ed.): ''Der Liederquell.'' Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2007, , pp. 1048f. *

Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (26 June 1918 – 12 June 1993) was a German folklorist, anthropologist and ethnologist. She was an academic teacher, from 1946 at the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin in East Berlin and from 1961 at the University o ...

: ''Das Buch der Weihnachtslieder.'' Schott, Mainz 1982, , pp. 9f.

References

{{Authority control Christmas carols in German History of Aachen Christian hymns in German Songs about Jesus German church music Advent songs