History of the Christmas Tree: Where Did It Come From?
White House Blue Room Christmas Tree, 2002. Image: Wikipedia
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE
December 8 is National Christmas Tree Day.
It is generally believed that the first Christmas Tree originated in Germany, dating back to the time of St. Boniface, an English missionary to Germany in the 8th century. He replaced the sacrifices to the Norse god Odin’s sacred oak – some say it was Thor‘s Thunder Oak – with a fir tree adorned in tribute to the Christ Child.
The legend is told that Boniface found a group of “pagans” preparing to sacrifice a boy near an oak tree in Geismar near Fritzlar, Germany. He cut down the oak tree with a single ax stroke and stopped the sacrifice. A small fir tree sprang up in place of the oak. He told the pagans this was the “tree of life” and stood for Christ.
Saint Boniface felling Donar’s Oak. Image: Wikipedia
How has the use of the Christmas Tree changed through the centuries?
Middle Ages
A legend began to circulate in the early Middle Ages: when Jesus was born in the dead of winter, all the trees throughout the world shook off their ice and snow to produce new shoots of green.
The medieval Church would decorate outdoor fir trees, known as “paradise trees,” with apples on Christmas Eve. They called it “Adam and Eve Day” and celebrated with a play.
Renaissance
Town Hall Square, Riga, Latvia. Author’s photo
During the Renaissance, records indicate that trees were used as symbols in Christmas celebrations in guild houses. One of the first was in the Latvian capital of Riga in 1441, 1442, 1510, and 1514, when the Brotherhood of Blackheads erected a tree for the holidays in their guild houses.
On the last night of the celebrations leading up to the holidays, the tree was taken to Town Hall Square, where members of the brotherhood, wearing black hats, burned it and danced around it. But whether it was for Christmas or Ash Wednesday is still debated.
Years ago, I stood in that same town hall square in the winter, surrounded by snow.
Germany
Martin Luther with family & friends and the Christmas Tree. Image: Wikipedia
Accounts persist that Martin Luther introduced the Christmas tree, lit with candles, in Wittenberg, Germany, in the mid-16th century. He often wrote and preached on Advent and Christmas. He loved Christmas and wrote at least five hymns about it. One of his students wrote of Luther saying:
For this is indeed the greatest gift, which far exceeds all else that God has created. Yet we believe so sluggishly, even though the angels proclaim and preach and sing, and their lovely song sums up the whole Christian faith, for “Glory to God in the highest” is the very heart of worship.
As Luther returned to his home after a walk one winter night, the story goes, he tried unsuccessfully to describe the beauty of the starry night glittering through the trees to his family. Instead, he went outside, cut down a small fir tree to bring inside his home, and put lighted candles upon it.
In a manuscript dated 1605, a merchant in Strasbourg, Germany (at that time) wrote that at Christmas, they set up fir trees in the parlors to
“hang thereon roses cut out of paper of many colors, apples, wafers, spangle-gold and sugar…”
Though the tradition of selling Christmas trees dates back to the mid-1500s in Strasbourg, the custom of decorating trees may have developed from the medieval Paradise Play. This play was a favorite during the Advent season because it ended with the promise of a Savior – the action centered on a fir tree hung with apples.
England
Queen Charlotte’s Christmas Tree, 1800. Image: Historic Royal Palaces
The earliest recorded Christmas Tree in England was at Queen’s Lodge, Windsor, by Queen Charlotte, the German-born wife of George III, for a party she held on Christmas Day, 1800, for the children of the leading families in Windsor. She herself had 15 children.
Her biographer, Dr. John Watkins, describes the scene:
In the middle of the room stood an immense tub with a yew tree placed in it, from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds, and raisins in papers, fruits and toys, most tastefully arranged, and the whole illuminated by small wax candles. After the company had walked around and admired the tree, each child obtained a portion of the sweets which it bore together with a toy and then all returned home, quite delighted.
Popularization of the Christmas Tree
Victoria & Albert with Christmas Tree, 1848. Image: Wikipedia
The Christmas Tree was most successfully popularized in England by the German Prince Albert, soon after his marriage to Queen Victoria. Though the tree had been introduced by a previous royal consort, in 1841, he began the recurring annual custom of decorating a large tree in Windsor Castle. In 1848, a print showing the Royal couple with their children was published in the Illustrated London News.
Albert gave trees to the Army barracks, and imitation followed. From this time onwards, the popularity of decorated fir trees spread beyond Royal circles and throughout British society, thanks mainly to Albert’s efforts.
Even Charles Dickens called the Christmas tree that “new German toy.” Eventually, he had one in his London townhome. German immigrants brought the custom to the United States, and tree decorating is recorded as early as 1747 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Christmas Tree in America
Christmas tree next to the portrait of George Washington, East Room, White House, by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters. Image: CBS News
Many communities vie for the honor of decorating the first Christmas tree in America. One story tells of Hessian (German) soldiers who fought for King George III of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. They left their posts unguarded as they were keeping Christmas in Trenton, New Jersey, around a decorated tree.
George Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge. Image: Wikipedia
George Washington and his troops were hungry and freezing at Valley Forge, but they planned their attack, knowing that the Hessians would be celebrating and thus less able to defend themselves.
The first documented Christmas tree in a home is that of Charles Minnigerode, a German refugee who settled in Williamsburg as a professor at William and Mary in 1842. He shared the German custom of decorating an evergreen with candles, bright paper, and a golden star at the top.
White House Christmas trees. Image: Fox News
Christmas trees became quite popular in the United States after the invention of electric lighting. In 1895, President Grover Cleveland decorated the White House tree with electric Lights. This idea caught on and spread across the country.
Ironically, Christmas Trees were banned in the White House in 1901 by President Teddy Roosevelt. He had concerns about the annual harvest of Christmas trees in forests, preferring to celebrate Christmas with traditions such as attending church services, gift exchanges, and enjoying a family meal.
How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
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