The history of the first Christmas tree and the tradition of decoration

At the beginning of the 8th century, according to the legend of the Devon saint, Saint Boniface was sent as a missionary to Germany in order to convert the pagans to Christianity.

We all know the story of how Queen Victoria’s husband Albert brought the tradition of Christmas trees to England from Germany, but how did the tradition start there?

Saint-Boniface would later become the patron saint of breweries, so sending him to a beer-loving Germany could very well have been a masterful mission.

He worked tirelessly in the country, destroying pagan idols and temples in Germany and building churches in their place. He was appointed Archbishop of Mainz and founded or restored the Bavarian Diocese.

It was during this trip, around the time of the winter solstice, that he encountered a group of pagans worshiping an old oak tree, according to legend.

Saint-Boniface was frightened by what he considered blasphemy, took an ax and chopped down the oak. In doing so, he called the Gentiles to see the power of his God over them. Pagan feelings were understood to be mixed, but Boniface’s actions were obviously taken lightly, some of the stories telling that he had converted the pagans on the spot.

Today’s legend is told differently, from generation to generation, some say that Saint-Boniface planted a fir there, but the most common idea is that a fir spontaneously grew in place of an oak, and was seen as an image of God, and many believed that evergreen foliage symbolized the eternal love of the Creator.

According to the myth, the following year all the pagans in the area converted to Christianity and hung decorations on the trees to celebrate what they now called Christmas, rather than the winter solstice.

Either way, the legend spread and soon Christmas trees became the norm in newly converted Bavaria and then spread to become the festival dotted with garlands, electric lights and hanging baubles that we know today.

In 1605 in Strasbourg the Christmas tree was erected in the public square, it was not decorated with lights but it had red apples, which recalled the sins committed by the first couple, who were punished and forced to leave the garden of God.

In Breslau, Duchess Dorothea Sybille von Schlesien decorated the first Christmas tree in 1611, as we know it today.

Since 1878, globes have appeared as Christmas decorations. Being made of Thuringian glass, they are very successful. This German tradition has therefore succeeded in conquering the whole world, being adopted everywhere (North or South America, Australia, Asia, Africa … etc.).

Now known around the world and wonderfully decorated from one country to another, the Christmas tree waited 10 centuries to cross the German border.

From the end of the 19th century, Germany organized Christmas tree decoration fairs and became a general tradition for Germans « no house without a Christmas tree ».

In Eastern Europe, especially in Romania, there are students who brought the tradition of the Christmas tree, during their studies in Berlin or Vienna, but also thanks to the royal dynasty of Hohenzollern, which influenced the upper class to accept the tradition of Christmas, where it was easy to be accepted by the people of Bucharest. It has become a tradition to decorate the Christmas tree, one of the most popular, both in urban and rural areas, while waiting for Christmas Eve, where the mythological character of Santa Claus appears.

The first Christmas tree to have light bulbs was in Timisoara in 1890, just 6 years after the launch of electricity, being the first city in Europe.

Things changed dramatically in the 19th century with the advent of electricity. On December 22, 1882, Edward Hibberd Johnson, vice president of Edison Electric Light, and Thomas Edison, his friend the famous inventor of the light bulb, were the first to decorate his Christmas tree in his Manhattan neighborhood with 80 reds. , white and blue, light bulbs attached to the wires.

Over the next few years, Edward Johnson and Thomas Edison made various improvements to electric Christmas tree lights, and in 1890 brought the invention to market, promoting it in department stores.

My beautiful Christmas tree is a Christmas carol of German origin. Its original title is: O Tannenbaum. The most famous version is based on traditional music and an 1824 text composed in German by Ernst Anschütz, organist and teacher in Leipzig, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. The first known version of the lyrics dates from 1550, another version was composed in 1615 by Melchior Franck. This song has been translated into many languages.

Christmas is certainly one of the most important holidays in the world. However, where could this name come from?
From the Latin etymology « creatio », which is closely linked to the day of creation of Jesus Christ, (nativity) for the celebration of the birth of Jesus is the Christianization of the pagan feast in Rome « Dies Natalis Solis Invicti » which means « birthday of the undefeated Sun », feast inaugurated by the Roman emperor Aurelian (270-275), to celebrate the sun god and to celebrate the winter solstice, December 25.

The word Christmas of the etymology creatio (with the accusative creationem, in Latin creation / creatiun) therefore the day of creation. Although it may be objected that this is an Aryan conception (which considers the Son to be a creature of the Father). In response to this ambiguity, ecclesiastical elites replaced this popular term with the feast of the Nativity (also of Latin origin), as found in the Gospel, based on the same term with which other neo-Latin languages ​​( romances) – and not only – derived from the name of the holiday (French Noël, Portuguese Natal, Italian Natale, Spanish Navidad, English Nativity).

On December 26 a large part of Christians will take the tree out of their homes considering that they have received birth and conversion to light, for some the tree is the symbol of eternity (considering that it is green all the year whatever the season).

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Gabriel MIHAI

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