Short History of the Christmas Tree Throughout history,
People in the Northern Hemisphere celebrated winter solstice between December 21st and 22nd.
They decorated their homes,
Particularly doors and windows,
With evergreen tree branches to please their gods.
In many cultures it was believed that the sun itself was a god who got weak and sick during the winter and returned in the spring stronger each day.
Winter solstice was believed to be the time when the sun returned to its strength.
Evergreen plants served as a reminder that soon sun would return and all life would flourish again.
One of the earliest records about winter solstice celebration comes from ancient Egypt where people worshipped sun god Ra,
Who had a head of a hawk and sun as his crown.
During winter solstice when Ra would recover from his illness,
Ancient Egyptians decorated their homes with palm leaves,
Which for them symbolized life-defeating death.
Saturnalia was one of the biggest festivals celebrated in ancient Rome between 17th and 25th of December.
Saturnalia was celebrated to honor Saturn,
The god of agriculture.
To honor the god and the fact that soon farms and fields would be green and fruitful,
They decorated their homes with green branches.
During Saturnalia no one could be prosecuted for breaking the law,
Killing or injuring others.
A lot of people took advantage of this time of lawlessness,
But Saturnalia was also time to remember others by giving them small gifts.
In the early days of the Christian church,
The birth of Jesus was said to be in the last day of Saturnalia.
This was an attempt created by the early Roman Christians to convert pagans into Christianity.
Among in Germanic,
Celtic and Slavic pagan cultures there was a habit to decorate homes with evergreen branches around winter solstice.
Many times green branches were used as the symbol of the world tree.
World tree is an early shamanic concept.
Belief for that world was made of several different layers,
And those layers were held together by the world tree.
A number of layers varied between 3 to 17,
Depending on the culture and the belief system.
In northern hemisphere,
Branches from evergreen trees also symbolized the rebirth of nature and everlasting life,
Bringing hope for people about the coming spring.
In Germanic Yule celebration,
A conifer tree was most popular because the trunk was used for making the Yule log.
Spruce trees especially were also connected to several highly respected forest deities and spirits.
Pine cones and sprigs were used to decorate homes.
Around the area of Baltic Sea,
People widely worshipped trees.
In Finland people had the custom to bring sacrificial gifts under the spirit tree during the winter solstice.
The Catholic church did not approve the pagan custom to bring tree branches inside.
Protestant church approved the custom and tree branches were seen as symbol of wealth.
When in Catholic tradition,
Native seals were the official symbols of Christmas,
Christmas tree became the official holiday symbol for the Protestants.
An angel appeared to the shepherds and told them about the birth of Jesus.
This is why in Christian tradition,
There is either an angel or a star in the top of the Christmas tree.
Sometimes Christmas tree is told to symbolize the tree of paradise.
In the 16th century,
Christmas trees received more and more popularity and even the most Puritan clergyman had to face the fact that the custom was here to stay.
According to the legend,
German priest Martin Luther,
Who became the founder of Lutheran church,
Was on his way home to Wittenberg one winter night and he saw a beautiful spruce tree and a star shining bright above it.
He was so touched by what he saw that he took one of the trees inside his home and lit candles to the tree branches.
The story was spread across his congregation and later on after reformation,
Soon all Protestant countries in Central Europe had their own Christmas tree traditions.
Their traditions spread into the United States in the 18th century together with German soldiers.
Christmas tree tradition arrived in Scandinavian countries in the 19th century.
The first mention of Christmas tree in Finland is from 1829.
A baron from Helsinki bought eight Christmas trees to decorate his home with.
First people who adopted the Christmas tree tradition were clergymen and noblemen.
It was not until the 20th century when Christmas tree tradition spread to all Finnish homes.
Adopting Christmas trees started in the Middle Ages.
Baltic countries,
Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia,
Together with Scandinavian countries,
Were the last countries in Europe that were converted into Christianity.
In Baltic countries,
Merchants traditionally decorated tree branches for the winter solstice celebration.
In the 16th century in Germany and in Switzerland,
The handcrafter guilds decorated twigs with sweets and they were given as gifts for other guilds.
Early Christmas tree decorations were all eatable,
Like apples,
Nuts and sweets.
Nowadays the majority of the Christmas ornaments are made of plastic and the topics vary great deal.
Most common ones are different kinds of stars,
Angels and elves.
Before Christmas trees became the official symbol of Christmas,
It was a custom that was only available for the richest families.
Some people might even have more than one tree.
Many times the Christmas tree was an exotic decoration.
Sometimes people even had competitions with the neighbours on whose tree was the most handsome.
Wealthy families might even have a Christmas tree in every room.
Tiny trees were placed on shelves or hanged into ceiling.
The big tree was placed into the living room and it was also a status symbol.
More handsome tree,
The wealthier owner.
When customs spread into the homes of the middle class,
Their trees were usually small and placed into the middle of the table.
When demand for the Christmas trees grew,
The size of the trees grew as well.
Christmas trees did not please all people.
There were political and religious groups who banned Christmas trees and were convinced that they were an attempt to destroy people's moralities.
Trees were not always considered safe.
Some of the arguments were accurate,
Such as decorating trees with actual candles which might lead to fires.
Electric lights became more popular in Christmas trees in the 19th century.
The world's first Christmas tree with electric lights was on display in New York in 1882.
That was the short history of the Christmas tree.
Thank you very much for listening.
Bye!
