Christmas as we all know is a festival of songs, candles, prayers and music. It was a chilly winter of 1818 and just days before Christmas. As Christmas was nearing, it was discovered that the Church organ was broken. Certain Christmas stories support the fact that mice had eaten the bellows of the organ; others emphasize that Gruber the organist, broke the organ himself. It is also believed that frequent flooding of the area resulted in rust and mildew to affect the condition of the church organ, thereby making it functionless.