It’s getting dark already

“It’s getting dark already, it’s
almost night-time, so I’m coming here to
you, my Saviour on watch …”

“It’s getting dark already ” by Anton Reidinger also has its roots in the Innviertel. A visit to Obernberg am Inn and a stroll in Reidinger’s footsteps is a must at Christmas time.

“Es wird scho glei dumpa” is one of those Christmas carols that captures this special atmosphere in an unmistakable way. There is something soothing and familiar in the warm, heartfelt melody – a feeling of security, contemplation and quiet anticipation.

This traditional Austrian Christmas carol tells, in heartfelt dialect, of the gathering darkness and the wait for the Christ Child. It is precisely the simple language and gentle melody that make the song a timeless companion through the Advent and Christmas season.

It is a song for quiet moments: ‘
’ for cosy hours spent with the family by candlelight and for those moments when the hustle and bustle of everyday life fades into the background for a while. When it’s getting dark outside, it can be all the brighter inside.

The life of Reverend Anton Reidinger
He was born on 29 April 1839 in Krenglbach and was both a priest and a dialect poet. With ‘Es wird scho glei dumpa’ (“It’s getting dark already”), Anton Reidinger wrote one of the best-known Christmas carols in the local dialect. His life story tells of the headmaster’s son who began taking violin lessons at the age of four. As a choirboy at St Florian Abbey, he was taught by none other than Anton Bruckner. Many other well-known places played a part in Anton Reidinger’s life. Anton Reidinger died on 25 December 1912, whilst attending Midnight Mass in Obernberg. At the Heimathaus Obernberg Museum, visitors can learn interesting facts about the life of Father Anton Reidinger.