Editing Christmas carol (section)

===Germany, Austria and Switzerland===
{{See also|List of Christmas carols#German}}
Some carols familiar in English are translations of German Christmas songs (''Weihnachtslieder''). Pastoral ''Weihnachtslieder'' are sometimes called ''Hirtenlieder'' ("shepherd songs"). [[Martin Luther]] wrote the carol "[[Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her]]", which can be acted as a play of the [[Nativity of Jesus|Christmas story]]. He also wrote "[[Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ]]" and "[[Christum wir sollen loben schon]]". The carol "[[Vom Himmel hoch, o Engel, kommt]]" was written by [[Friedrich Spee]] in 1622 to an older melody, a lullaby singing "of Jesus and Mary", and for peace.

Two well-known later examples are "[[O Tannenbaum]]" (O Christmas tree), from a German folksong arranged by [[Ernst Anschütz]] and "Stille Nacht" ("[[Silent Night]]") by the Austrians [[Franz Gruber (musician)|Franz Xaver Gruber]] and [[Joseph Mohr]]. The carol most familiar in German besides those two is probably the 19th-century "[[O du fröhliche]]".

Other popular and widely sung Christmas carols are "Herbei, o ihr Gläub’gen", which is a German version of "Adeste fideles" (English: "[[O Come, All Ye Faithful]]"), [[Alle Jahre wieder]] ("Every year again"), [[Es ist ein Ros entsprungen]] (lit: "A rose has sprung up"), "[[Leise rieselt der Schnee]]" "(Silently the snow is falling)", "[[Tochter Zion, freue dich]]" (Daughter Zion, rejoice) and "[[Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen]]" ("Unto us a time has come").

"[[Lasst uns froh und munter sein]]" ("Let us be happy and cheerful"), "[[Kling Glöckchen|Kling, Glöckchen]]", ("Ring, Little Bell"), "[[Ihr Kinderlein, kommet]]" ("Oh, come, little children") and "[[Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen]]" (lit.: "tiny snowflake, white, tiny skirt") are popular German songs introduced in [[Kindergarten]] and [[primary school]]. [[Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann]] wrote a scientific book on German Christmas carols which is also a song book.