12 Traditions of Christmas: Decorating a Christmas Tree


Part two of a series on the history and traditions of Christmas.

 It is widely believed that the history of the Christmas tree as we know it began in Germany.

In the 8th century, there was a missionary that went by the name of Winfred, who later became known as St. Boniface. The story goes that St. Boniface happened to run across a group of pagan worshipers near an oak tree, who were in the process of making a human sacrifice of a small boy to their god Thor. Enraged by what he saw, St. Boniface chopped down the oak tree immediately. Once the tree was down, St. Boniface noticed that a tiny fir tree had miraculously sprung up in its place! At this time, and forever after, the image of the fir tree was a symbol of Christianity and one of everlasting life.

But it was not until the 16th century that bringing a living tree indoors became a tradition. Around the year 1500, a man by the name of Martin Luther saw an amazing site one winter evening while walking home. He came across a small patch of evergreen trees in the woods, covered with freshly fallen snow that seemed to twinkle in the moonlight.

Martin Luther thought this was such a beautiful sight, that he wished to share the experience with his family. Thus, Martin Luther cut down a small fir tree, took it into his home, and decorated it with small, lit candles tied to the branches to recreate what he saw. It is believed that the lighting of the candles was to simulate the stars that shone in the night sky, just as they had done during the first Christmas Eve over the small town of Bethlehem.

From 1500 until around 1700, the indoor Christmas tree grew as a German custom. After 1700 or so, adding lights and decorations such as apples made this custom take off and placed it firmly into “tradition” status. It is even rumored that during the Revolutionary War of 1776 the Hessian soldiers left their posts to celebrate around a candlelit evergreen tree on Christmas Eve, with thoughts of home. Because of this, they were defeated by George Washington and his troops.

The tradition of decorating a Christmas trees was practically non-existent in America until about the 1840s. They were sometimes displayed as curios in traveling sideshows, but Christmas tree decorating was considered sacrilegious for most of the 17th and 18th century.  It was seen as a mockery of the sober celebration of the birth of Christ. In fact in 1659, people were fined for hanging decorations. This law continued until the 19th century when the tradition was brought more into common practice by German and Irish immigrants to the United States.

At around the same time in 1848, England's Queen Victoria was presented with the gift of a Christmas Tree from her husband, Prince Albert who was of Germanic descent, and therefore, having an indoor, decorated tree would be more traditional to him. When the people saw the sight of this gorgeously decorated and glowing indoor tree, they decided, “If it is good enough for the Queen we love and admire so much, then it must be good enough for us!” Thus, more and more homes across England began including the “royal” tradition of a Christmas tree into the holiday season.

One difference between European and American tree decorating customs is that Europeans were more inclined to decorate their trees with food, such cookies and candies (and even pickles!). Americans on the other hand were more into glitzy decorations. Also, the European Christmas trees tended to be shorter (three to four feet in height) while the Americans preferred their trees to be sky-high.  Both cultures however enjoyed decorating their trees with garlands of popcorn and electric lights.

The tradition of an indoor decorated Christmas tree was commonplace by the 1960's. Since then, the Christmas tree has become a symbol of the American Christmas holiday traditions long steeped in far off culture.

Decorate your Christmas tree in style!
Author: Anne Jefferson
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