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

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

hymn in the German language. It originated as a

leise __NOTOC__ The Leise or Leis (plural ''Leisen''; from the Greek ''kyrie eleison'') is a genre of vernacular medieval church song. They appear to have originated in the German-speaking regions, but are also found in Scandinavia, and are a precursor ...

and its melody is first recorded as a fragment in the Liuthar Gospels at

Aachen Cathedral Treasury The Aachen Cathedral Treasury (german: Aachener Domschatzkammer) 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 E ...

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

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

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 "Das Lied der Deutschen", whose third stanza is now the national anthem of Germany, an ...

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; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

: ''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

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

) 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 ...

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

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

, 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 Christmas ...

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 typi ...

: ''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-speaki ...

'', 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). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

, 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 in 2013, but the regional section of the

Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg (Latin: ''Dioecesis Limburgensis'') is a 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 ...

includes it as GL 757. The current Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (EG 22) includes it as a

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

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 conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

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'' (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 becam ...

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

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

References

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