Traditions and Trivia: Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree has a multi-national origin. Romans, Druids, Egyptians, Scandinavians, and even Babylonians brought in their various species of evergreen trees to signify that come springtime, life would return to the winterized lands.

However, Germany is credited for popularizing the modern day version of the Christmas tree in the 16th century.

Christians would bring decorated trees into their homes and light them up with candles.

According to christianitytoday.com, said German Christians would decorate them with “round pastry wafers symbolizing the Eucharist, which developed into the cookie ornaments decorating German Christmas trees today.”

The Christmas tree survived many years of persecution from groups like the Puritans who sought to stamp out any pagan connection to the birth of Jesus Christ and eventually made its way to the United States via German immigrants.

History.com states, “The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier.”

The tradition caught on and now entire farms are grown year round to meet the demand. In Germany, most have resorted to using lights on their trees for safety reasons, but some still dress them with candles on Christmas Eve.