A Christmas tree is one the most recognizable images of the festive season, so where did it come from?
Trees at Christmas can be traced back to 700 AD. They have been an important part in winter celebrations for hundreds of years.
The Pagans have used trees as part of their festivals to honour gods and spirits. The Druids and Romans used evergreen branches to celebrate the Winter Solstice by decorating their homes and public buildings.
Christians later adopted some of these traditions by incorporating them into their celebrations of Christmas.
One myth that surrounds the association of trees and Christianity is that it started in Germany about 1000 years ago. Germans were being converted to Christianity by a monk called St Boniface. It was this monk who saw a group of Pagans worshipping an oak tree.
He did not like what he saw so he cut the tree down only to find a young fir tree coming up from the roots. He told the Pagans that the fir tree was the tree of life and it represented the life of Christ.
It was not until the 16th century that fir trees were put inside houses over Christmas. In Europe, the trees would be decorated with different coloured paper, small toys, food and sometimes candles (depending on the status of the family.)
When people moved around from place to place and country to country, these traditions were taken with them.
As time evolved tree decorations were changing also. In the 1900’s trees were decorated with strings of popcorn, homemade cards, snowy string and shop bought decorations.
It is believed the Protestant reformer Martin Luther first added lighted candles to a tree. He got the idea when walking through some woods one night and saw the stars through the trees. He recreated this by putting candles in his tree at home.
Electric lights were first used in 1882. In 1846 the Royal family decorated the first tree at Windsor Castle.
When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s photograph was published in the newspaper standing around a Christmas tree with their children, the tradition of decorating trees became fashionable.
In modern days the Christmas tree is accepted as a necessary tradition at Christmas.
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History of the Christmas tree
Fri, 16 Sep 2005
