DAVID ADAMS takes a look at where the idea of the Christmas tree comes from…
PICTURE: Graham Soult (www.sxc.hu)
There are many explanations for the origins of the Christmas tree with many suggesting it was the adaption of an ancient pagan custom in places such as Egypt of decorating homes with evergreen greenery during winter.
There are many explanations for the origins of the Christmas tree with many suggesting it was the adaption of an ancient pagan custom in places such as Egypt of decorating homes with evergreen greenery during winter.
The modern concept of decorating a tree to celebrate Christmas, however, is generally believed to date from Europe in the 1600s when the tradition was recorded in places including Germany and in north-eastern European countries such Estonia or Latvia.
One of the most common stories attributes the tradition of decorating a tree to celebrate Christmas to the 16th century Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Luther, apparently struck by the beauty of snow-covered fir trees and the twinkling stars overhead while walking home one night composing a sermon, decorated a tree with candles which he then lit in honor of Christ’s birth.
In Britain, the tradition took hold among society’s fashionable after the German-born Prince Albert gave a tree to Queen Victoria for Christmas in 1841 which was positioned in Windsor Castle and subsequently featured in a sketch of the Royal Family published in the Illustrated London News.
The concept of Christmas trees emigrated to North America with German immigrants but it wasn’t until the mid to late 1800s that the tradition became more widespread thanks to the belief of many that it represented a pagan custom.
Decorations of early trees included apples (symbolising the events in the Garden of Eden), roses, candies and colored papers as well as candles. Artificial trees debuted around the end of the 1800s and Christmas lights also followed with the advent of electricity.
In the western world it became more common for communities to erect large scale trees to form a focal point for larger celebrations, even holding public lighting ceremonie. Perhaps the most famous ceremony is that which takes place on the White House lawn in the US – involving the ‘national’ Christmas tree, it was started by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923.
If you have a word you’d like to know the origins of, simply send an email to [email protected].
YOUR SAY: Do you put up a Christmas tree? What does the concept symbolise to you? Or is it simply something fun at Christmas? Have your say below…
