It is told that Saint Boniface, a monk from Crediton,
Devonshire, England who established Christian churches
in France and Germany in the 7th Century, one day
came upon a group of pagans gathered around a big oak
tree about to sacrifice a child to the god Thor.
To stop the sacrifice and save the child's life
Boniface felled the tree with one mighty blow of his fist.
In its place grew a small fir tree.
The saint told the pagan worshipers that the tiny
fir was the Tree of Life and stood for the eternal
life of Christ.
It is also told that Saint Boniface used the triangular
shape ofthe fir tree to describe the Holy Trinity of
God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
By the 12th Century, Christmas trees were hung from
ceilings as a symbol of Christianity. However,
in that time, for a reason no one could yet explain,
the trees were hung upside down.
Trees as symbols.
Trees were a symbol of life long before Christianity.
Ancient Egyptians brought green palm branches into
their homes on the shortest day of the year in
December as a symbol of life's triumph over death.
Ancient Finns used sacred groves instead of temples.
Romans adorned their homes with evergreens during Saturnalia, a winter festival in honour of Saturnus,
their god of agriculture.
Druid priests decorated oak trees with golden apples
for their winter solstice festivities.
During December in the Middle Ages,
trees were hung with red apples as a symbol of the
feast of Adam and Eve, and called the Paradise Tree.
Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) is said to be the first
to have decorated a Christmas tree with candles to
show children how the stars twinkled through
the dark night.
The first Christmas trees.
The first reference of a fir tree decorated for Christmas is at Riga in Latvia in 1510.
In 1521, the Princess Hélène de Mecklembourg
introduced the Christmas tree to Paris after marrying
the Duke of Orleans.
There also is a printed reference to Christmas trees
in Germany, dated 1531.
Another famous reference, to 1601, is about a visitor
to Strasbourg, Germany who noticed a family
decorating a tree with "wafers and golden sugar-twists
and paper flowers of all colours."
The Christmas tree was introduced to the United States
by German settlers and by Hessian mercenaries paid to
fight in the Revolutionary War.
In 1804, US soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn, hauled trees from surrounding woods to their barracks.
Britain was introduced to the Christmas tree in 1841,
when Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert
brought a Christmas tree to Windsor Castle for the Royal family.
The custom of of the Christmas tree spread quickly to
the middle class, to working people, and throughout
the colonies, where the Empire's flag would sometimes
top the tree.
Christmas tree angels were introduced in the 1850s.
Christmas tree decorations.
Trees were decorated with apples, cakes and candies
for many centuries.
Martin Luther was the first to use candles on trees
in the late 16th Century.
In 1842, Charles Minnegrode introduced the custom of
decorating trees to the US in Williamsburg, Virginia.
In 1850s, German company Lauscha, based in Thuringia,
began to produce shaped glass bead garlands for Christmas trees. They also introduced the Rauschgoldengel,
the Tingled-angel', dressed in pure gilded tin.
The glass ornaments reached Britain in the 1870s, and North America around 1880.
In 1882, ornaments were complimented by electric Christmas lights. Edward Johnson, a colleague of Thomas Edison, lit a Christmas tree with a string of
80 small electric light bulbs which he had made himself.
By 1890, the Christmas light strings were mass-produced.
By 1900, stores put up large illuminated trees to lure the customers.
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are your branches!
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are your branches!
Your boughs are green in summer's clime
And through the snows of wintertime.
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are your branches!
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
What happiness befalls me?
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
What happiness befalls me?
When oft at joyous Christmastime
Your form inspires my song and rhyme.
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
What happiness befalls me?
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
Your boughs can teach a lesson.
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
Your boughs can teach a lesson.
That constant faith and hope sublime
Lend strength and comfort through all time.
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,
Your boughs can teach a lesson.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum
Wie treu sind deine Blätter
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein, auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie treu sind deine Blätter.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen.
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren.
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit,
Gibt Trost und Kraft zu jeder Zeit!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Das will dein Kleid mich lehren.
If you should have any traditions, crafts, activities,
recipes, etc. you would like to share on this page,
please feel free to email me and tell me about them. E-mail
