Christmas Tree Evolution
by Christians love to put up a Christmas tree before the 25th of December. Many think of it as traditional. Depending on how narrow minded one is, the tradition is either not very old, or rather older than one imagines. The Christmas tree has a history. It was promoted, demoted, forbidden and it developed to its modern form through many stages. Some of its Christian symbolism has even been completely lost.
The earliest mention of a single Christmas tree dates from 1539, when one was put up in the Cathedral of Strasbourg, Alsace. Martin Luther promoted the Christmas tree to distinguish Protestants’ Christmas from Catholics’ who put up the nativity scene as a decoration. The Catholic Church was even moved to outlaw the Christmas tree for being a ‘heathen superstition’. It did this not as one might expect for reason of faith but because it owned vast tracts of woods, and it strongly disapproved of losing money to a frivolity.
Duchess Dorothea of Brieg is credited as the first to introduce candles to the Christmas tree in 1611. The Christmas tree continued its small revolution, a revolution from the top, one has to admit. It was the rich aristocrats and the equally rich guilds which were able to provide the trees. Rich merchants and other citizens followed. During the war between Germany and France in 1870 and 1871, Christmas trees were put in hospitals and field hospitals to cheer up the wounded and found their way into every home afterwards. The White House puts up a Christmas tree for public display since 1891 and is probably responsible for that particular tradition to come back to Europe where the first public tree ‘for the poor’ was put up in Weimar in 1924.
Until late in the 19th century, trees in northern Germany were decorated with apples, the figures of Adam and Eve as well as the snake, to represent the tree of forbidden fruit in Paradise. Traditionally, Christmas Eve was a day to remember Adam and Eve and a play about Paradise would be put up in church. Putting up ornaments instead of fruit and sweet cakes started in 1830 when the first ornaments were produced in Germany.
The Catholic Church lifted its ban on trees only after the Second World War, and the putting up of the tree on St. Peter’s Square only became an event under Pope John-Paul II. The Vatican tree is a gift from a country where Catholics live. Other cities receive trees as gift as well; London puts up the Oslo tree on Trafalgar Square since 1947, and Hamburg puts up a tree from one of Germany’s northern neighbours in front of its city hall.
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Post Commentmartie
On November 17, 2009 at 11:38 pm
wonderful article.
Joie Schmidt
On November 17, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Interesting work.
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Sharif Ishnin
On November 18, 2009 at 3:05 am
Very informative article.
Francois Hagnere
On November 18, 2009 at 4:21 am
Very enjoyable and so informative. Another great interesting article!
Tanya Wallace
On November 18, 2009 at 6:23 pm
A very interesting,informative and well written article.I did not know about the catholics outlawing it as well as the protesants putting it up to distiguish the two religions. Fantastic work a very enjoyable read!