After weathering the most challenging year in its history, Christmas with Wartburg celebrates its 75th anniversary with live concerts in Waverly and West Des Moines, Dec. 3-5, 2021.

In 2020, restrictions created by a global pandemic made it impossible to stage the college’s 74th consecutive Advent-Christmas concert in the traditional mode. Yet the program continued, brightening a truly bleak midwinter with a video production that brought joy and hope to individuals and communities sequestered by COVID-19.

As audiences gather in person for the 2021 anniversary concert, we reflect on the generations of students, directors, and administrators who have staged this musical celebration of Christ’s incarnation as a gift to our local communities and the state of Iowa.

Beginning as a simple Christmas concert in 1947, Christmas with Wartburg mirrors the growth of the college and the expansion of the campus. For the first two years, it was staged at the Waverly High School auditorium because Wartburg had no facility suitable for large audiences. In 1949, the program moved to the newly built Knights Gymnasium, which was equipped with a large stage at one end of the gym floor. In 1961, the Chapel-Auditorium, later named Neumann Auditorium, created a new venue with more comfortable seats and better acoustics. The program moved back to Knights Gym in 1967 and 1968 and from 1976 to 1982, but it has remained in Neumann ever since.

Wartburg enrolled 622 students in 1947, and the Christmas concert featured the Wartburg Choir and the Chapel Choir. Eventually, the program expanded to include the Concert Band and Castle Singers. In 1952, the newly formed Wartburg Community Symphony Orchestra made its first appearance as part of Christmas with Wartburg.

Today, with approximately 450 students involved in campus music organizations, Christmas with Wartburg features five choral groups (Wartburg Choir, Castle Singers, Ritterchor, St. Elizabeth Chorale, and Kantorei) and three instrumental groups (Wartburg Wind Ensemble, Kammerstreicher chamber orchestra, and Handbell Choir). It takes six charter buses plus equipment trucks to take the show to West Des Moines.

The name, Christmas with Wartburg, first appeared on the 1951 program and by 1953, attendance had reached 1,500. Over the next40 years, attendance grew to 6,400 and theschedule included a total of four shows, two inWaverly and two at off-campus venues.

The off-campus programs were part of Wartburg’s expanding efforts to gain broader name recognition throughout the state. The first off-campus venue was West High School Auditorium in Waterloo from 1979 to1981. Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls hosted the program from 1982 until 2008. A Des Moines performance was added in 1986 at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. When that space became too small, Christmas with Wartburg moved to the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines from 1989 to 2008.

During Wartburg’s Sesquicentennial observance in 2001-02, the college added a fifth venue at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids. Students performed on campus Thursday, in Cedar Falls Friday, in Cedar Rapids Saturday, on campus Sunday, and in Des Moines the following Saturday.

In 2009, Dr. Darrel Colson became the new president of Wartburg College, and Dr. Lee Nelson joined the music department as director of choral activities and artistic director of Christmas with Wartburg. They re-arranged the schedule, replacing the Cedar Falls performance with a third concert on campus and moving the Des Moines performance to Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines. Students now travel to West Des Moines on Friday, perform an afternoon and evening concert in Neumann Auditoriumon Saturday, and present a final concert in Neumann Auditorium on Sunday afternoon.

Throughout its history, Christmas with Wartburg has combined music, narration, and scenic effects to create a cohesive theme. The list of narrators has included Wartburg presidents, beloved professors, accomplished staff members, and talented alumni.

Dr. Herman Diers, professor of religion, had the longest tenure as a scriptwriter and narrator. When he retired in the spring of 1993, Campus Pastor Larry Trachte ’66 filled in for that December’s program. The Rev. Philip Froiland, credited with expanding the outreach of Christmas with Wartburg during his years as director of church relations, wrote the narration from 1994 to 1999. Kathryn Koob ’60, an alumna and adjunct professor at Wartburg after retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service, scripted the program from 2002 to 2008. Dr. Lee Nelson has written the program narrative since 2009.

Professor Helen Wright created the set design and program art from the program’s inception to her retirement in 1968. Professor Arthur Frick, who joined the faculty in 1976, created banners and large-scale pieces that added visual interest above the performance area in Knights Gymnasium.

For many years, stretching from the 1980s to the early 2000s, a large Christmas tree was the only ornament on the Neumann Auditorium stage, and the tree lights changed colors as the program progressed. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Christmas with Wartburg in 2007, the college commissioned artist Janiece Bergland, of Floyd, Iowa, to create a hand-painted backdrop that was used for three years. She created a second backdrop for the 2010 program, which celebrated Wartburg’s 75th consecutive year in Waverly.

In 2011, mural designer and illustrator Chris Knudson ’01 began creating a yearly mural that reflects the program theme, accommodates a variety of special lighting effects, and provides graphic elements for programs, posters, and other ancillary materials.

Two organists also have been integral to Christmas with Wartburg productions. Dr. Warren Schmidt spent 40 years performing in the program, beginning in 1950. Dr. Karen Black, who joined the faculty in 1993, also is involved in the production as a performer as well as a director, arranger, and composer.

For 75 years Christmas with Wartburg has been an important expression and celebration of faith through music. This rich tradition has been the kickoff for the Advent and Christmas seasons for countless Wartburg alumni and friends and their families.

• 1947: Wartburg College’s Christmas Gift to You
• 1948-1949: No information available
• 1950: Wartburg College’s Christmas Concert
• 1951: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1952: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1953: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1954: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1955: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1956: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1957: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1958: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1959: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1960: A Service of Praise and Adoration
• 1961: Let There Be Light
• 1962-1964: No information avaialable
• 1965: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1966: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1967: No information available
• 1968: Handel’s “Messiah”
• 1969: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1970: A Christmas Carol
• 1971: The Play of Herod
• 1972: Amahl and the Night Visitors
• 1973: No information available

• 1974: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1975: The Word was Made Flesh
• 1976: From Heaven Above
• 1977: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1978: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1979: Wake, Awake!
• 1980: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1981: Savior of the Nations Come
• 1982: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1983: I Wait for The Lord
• 1984: Oh Come, Thou Savior of the Nations
• 1985: Christmas at Wartburg
• 1986: O, Come, All Ye Faithful
• 1987: A New Song
• 1988: From the East to the West: The Light Shines Forth
• 1989: Let Creation Praise Its Lord
• 1990: Lo the Marvel of Night
• 1991: Wake, Awake
• 1992: To Wonder as We Wander
• 1993: …And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
• 1994: Rejoice in the Light
• 1995: To Earth I Have Come to Bring Good News
• 1996: Shine, Bright Morning Star!
• 1997: O Come, All You Children