A Short History of the Christmas Tree
Christmas tree, Yule tree or Tannenbaum (German: fir tree) is one of the most popular traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas. It is a symbol of the promise of life to come after months of cold winter.
Christmas tree, Yule tree or Tannenbaum (German: fir tree) is one of the most popular traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas.Some say that the tree represents the one whose wood was made into a cross and used to crucify Jesus of Nazareth. Others say that its origin goes back to the original Tree of Knowledge and that is why so many early decorations were apples. Those who point to the ancient Roman celebration of Saturnalia as a source for our contemporary trees note the evergreens were used as decoration during that long ago holiday that ended on December 25. The evergreen continues to weave its way through the history of Christmas trees. It is a symbol of the promise of life to come after months of cold winter.The modern custom of using a Christmas tree can be traced to 16th century Germany, though neither an inventor nor a single town can be identified as the sole origin for the tradition, which was a popular merging of older traditions mentioned above. In the Cathedral of Strasbourg in 1539, the church record mentions the up rise of a Christmas tree. In that period, the guilds started setting up Christmas trees in front of their guildhalls: A German professor of European ethnology found a chronicle of 1570 which reports how a small fir was decorated with apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers, and erected in the guild-house, for the benefit of the guild members children, who collected these decorations on Christmas day. During the 17th century, the custom entered family homes.By the early 18th century, the custom had become common in towns of the upper Rhineland, but it had not yet spread to rural areas. Wax candles are attested from the late 18th century. The Christmas tree remained confined to the upper Rhineland for a relatively long time. It was regarded as a Protestant custom by the Catholic majority along the lower Rhine and was spread there only by Prussian officials who moved there in 1815.In the early 19th century, the custom became popular among the elite and spread to royal courts as far as Russia. A princess introduced the Christmas tree to Austria in 1816. In France, the first Christmas tree was introduced in 1840 by a Duchesse.Candle lights were added to Christmas trees as an attempt to further explain , it was estimated that Americans spent $1.5 billion on Christmas trees.
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Tags: celebration of christmas, celebration of saturnalia, christmas day, Christmas tree, european ethnology, fir tree, german professor, guild members, history of christmas, history of christmas trees, jesus of nazareth, paper flowers, promise of life, rhineland, roman celebration, saturnalia, tannenbaum, tree of knowledge, wax candles, yule
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