Tausend Sterne sind ein Dom

History

The song is from the Christmas cantata of the same name for choir and instruments by German composer Siegfried Köhler. It was written after the end of World War II under the impression of the year 1946, in the aftermath of World War II. In this year, Köhler had been released from war captivity due to suffering from tuberculosis. His composition of three stanzas with emotive lyrics grew into one of the best-known christmas songs of the German Democratic Republic. Its form closely resembles that of Christian christmas music, but its lyrics mostly abandon religious references, accommodating the state atheism of the GDR. Translated into English, it is now part of Secular Solstice events.