The Origin of the Christmas Tree

To many people Christmas trees are merely a holiday decoration, but they preserve rich Christian symbolism: the green of hope during a time of winter dying, the burning light of Christ at a time of spiritual darkness, and the fruits of paradise.

The Christmas tree has its roots in Germany, as do so many other Christmas traditions ("tannenbaum" is German for fir-tree). It was at first called the Paradise Tree, and seems to have been the result of the combining of two traditions: a prop from a popular morality play of the Middle Ages and a festival of lights from pre-Christian times. During the Middle Ages traveling actors and troubadors visited villages and acted out morality plays and popular Bible stories in the village square or local church. One of these stories was about Adam and Eve with a message promising that a Messiah would come. The feast of Adam and Eve was observed on December 24, and the prop for this story was a fir tree decorated with an apple, called a Paradise Tree. This tree so delighted children that parents were encouraged to have one in their home. This tree soon became a family tradition, and was decorated with apples, other fruit, and pastries. Another tradition that was popular at the same time as the Paradise Tree was the Festival of Lights. This was celebrated by the Germanic peoples as the winter solstice approached as they had done since pre-Christian times. After their conversion they re-interpreted these lights (which were actually candles) as symbolic of the light of the Messiah shining in the darkness of sin. Each year these lights were placed on shelves or steps in the shape of a pyramid. This pyramid was decorated with evergreens with the Star of Bethlehem at the top. These two traditions merged in the early 17th century; the candles and Star of Bethlehem were attached to the Paradise Tree, producing the first modern Christmas tree. Now Germans bring the tree home just a few days before Christmas and usually decorate it on December 24, often with simple candles and carved wooden figures, although some use the plastic and glass ornaments often found on trees in the U.S. The Christmas tree had become popular throughout Germany by the beginning of the 19th century and from there it spread to the Slavic nations and also to France. The custom was not introduced into England until the mid 1800s. It was first introduced in the American colonies by Hessian soldiers during the American Revolution, but was not made popular in the U.S. until the mid 1800s by German immigrants. Christmas trees in the U.S. were at first small table sized trees decorated with homemade ornaments and ribbon. Ceiling-height trees were popular by the end of the last century, and were decorated with home-made and commercially manufactured decorations.


(From "Catholic Customs and Traditions", p. 67, and The Florida Catholic, Dec 22, 1995, p. A15)