The earliest known printed version with seven stanzas was found in 1850 in the collection of hymns from August von Haxthausen and Dietrich Bocholtz-Asseburg.

[2] Songbooks of the German Youth Movement at the beginning of the 20th century increased the song's popularity, but they also contributed to its transformation from the pilgrimage origin to an Advent hymn.

In the Gotteslob, the current common prayer- and hymnbook of Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, and South Tyrol, the song is published as no.

There is a choral setting of the carol in English, "Mary walked through a wood of thorn", by the composer Philip Radcliffe.

[3] The carol was translated to Irish by a schoolteacher, Tadhg Ó Séaghdha, under the title 'Chuaigh Muire tríd an draighneach críon'.

Twelve carols, including 'Maria durch ein Dordwald ging' feature on the 2013 CD 'Carúil Nollag', recorded by the choir Cór Chois Fharraige.

The dead thorn wood, a symbol of infertility and death, begins to bloom when Mary walks through it with the divine child.

Maria durch ein Dornwald ging, der hat in sieben Jahrn kein Laub getragen.

Ein kleines Kindlein ohne Schmerzen, das trug Maria unter ihrem Herzen.