When it comes to the origins of Christmas trees, most people would assume it was a tradition that goes back to the Bible, but this is indeed false. Christmas trees date back to Germany in the 1500s. Germanic tribes would use them for their pagan rituals but there have been claims suggesting the Christmas trees go back to Latvia. Some claim that Saint Boniface created the very first Christmas tree in the early seventh century.
Pagan Roots
Christmas trees have a pagan origin. During the centuries before Christ, various cultures would bring evergreen trees, plants, and leaves into their houses during the winter solstice which occurs between Dec. 21 and Dec. 22.
The Egyptians took great value in evergreen, seeing them as signifying life’s triumph over death. They would also take green date palm leaves into their houses during the winter solstice.
During the mid-1500s, the Germans started utilizing Christmas trees as a meaning of hope for the beginning of spring. The practice possibly slowly evolved from pagan rituals to the Christmas tradition.
Timeline of Christmas Trees
In 1510, the first record of a decorated tree was in Riga, Latvia. Men from the local merchant’s guild would decorate a Christmas tree with a man-made rose then dance around it in the market area, setting the rose on fire.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, this practice was used for many years and is determined to be an insignia for the Virgin Mary.
By the 1600s, there was a practice in Germany to decorate Christmas trees with apples. This tradition was considered a holdover from the 14 and 15 centuries when evergreen boughs hung with the apples in what was known at the time as miracle plays. The plays were used as a form of biblical education to Germany’s illiterate population.
In the 1800s, Christmas trees were brought to the U.S. by German immigrants. A man named Franklin Pierce is given credit for being the first individual to bring the first Christmas tree to the White House in the 1850s.
Earlier in the late 1800s, the first glass decorations were brought to the country by the Germans. The first ornaments were glass balls, and later in coming years, it would be chains of these glass balls, then toys and figurines becoming the norm.
Jamario Brown-Tolliver
Intern