Christmas tree is an integral part of Christmas
celebrations. When Christmas is round the corner, most of us go in
search of beautiful Christmas trees and Christmas tree decorations
in the stores. But, amidst the quest to get the perfect Christmas
tree for our homes, how many of us have tried to find out when this
tradition of Christmas tree decoration was started or since when has
the Christmas tree been associated with the celebration of
Christmas? To get the answer of all these questions, we will have to
go back to many centuries. In this article, we have tried to trace
the roots of the traditional Christmas tree. Read on to know some
interesting facts about Christmas tree history.
The exact origin of Christmas tree is still a fresh topic for
debate. Many sources claim that the roots of this important symbol
of Christmas originated in the Pagan tradition, even before the
birth of Lord Jesus Christ. During the festival of Saturnalia, the
ancient Romans used to decorate evergreen trees and bushes. During
the rites of winter solstice, Celtic Druids honored their gods by
tying tributes to tree branches. Over the years, the Pagan
traditions and rituals were modified when the spread of Christianity
gained momentum in Rome and in the entire Empire. The old rituals
were gradually replaced by the symbols of new life given to the
whole world in the form of Lord Jesus Christ.
Moreover, many legends are connected to the traditional Christmas
tree. According to a legend, the tradition of using Christmas tree
dates back to the 7th century, when a monk from Crediton,
Devonshire, visited Germany to teach the people living in the
country about the Word of God. It is also said that he used a fir
tree, triangle in shape, to explain the facts about Holy Trinity of
God- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As a result, people
started worshipping the triangular fir tree and since then, the
traditional Christmas tree has been regarded as an important symbol
of Christianity.
The first decorated Christmas tree appeared at Riga in Latvia in
1510. Some people claim that in the beginning of the 16th century,
Martin Luther decorated a small Christmas tree with candles as to
make his children know about the stars shining in the darkness of
night. Since then, the traditional Christmas tree came to be
decorated with different Christmas decorations and ornaments.
According to the Christmas tree history written by an author,
Germany is credited with the origin and proliferation of the
traditional Christmas tree. According to the Christmas tree history,
fir tree were decorated with paper roses, wafers, candy, apples and
sugars in 1605. It also said that Germans created the Christmas tree
by a combination of the Paradise Tree and the Christmas light (a
small pyramid frame with a candle on top). By the beginning of
1800's, this custom was passed through Germany to Finland, Norway,
and Sweden, Denmark and many other European countries, including
Great Britain.
In this article, we have tried
to trace the roots of the traditional Christmas tree. Read on to
know some interesting facts about Christmas tree history.