Origin of Christmas Tree

Christmas is a happening and a big occasion for a lot of people. There are number of things like parties, family get together, Christmas tree, decoration of home, etc. that are associated with the festival of Christmas. The environment is filled with joy and happiness and people enjoy the festive fervor with family and friends. Buying a Christmas tree and decorating it with flowers, lights, ornaments and tinsel is a special activity for every family. The entire family comes together to beautifully decorate the Christmas tree. Christmas tree has a symbolic meaning as it brings freshness and hope of spring with it. The fresh smelling evergreen Christmas tree is an epitome of Christmas.

The origin of Christmas tree can be traced in Germany. The tree is associated with the German town of Geismar and with St. Boniface. St. Boniface was the first to use the evergreen fir tree as a symbol of Christmas. He cut down a Thor tree to remove the legitimacy of Norse gods in the local tribe of Germany. At that moment he saw the fir tree and took it as the Christmas tree that can be used in every house. Martin Luther King tried to use the symbol of Christmas tree for Christmas. He focused on it by saying that the Garden of Eden had this tree as Tree of Life.

The tradition of erecting Christmas tree started in sixteenth century in German town of Livonia. In earlier times, the Christmas tree was erected in public places and market squares. This helped the pastor in attracting masses towards the Christmas tree. The young men sang and danced around this tree with young maidens. Slowly, the tradition of decorating the tree began. The tree was decorated with natural things like apples, nuts, flowers, dates, fruits, etc. The trees were erected near the guild-house.

The majority of Protestant erected the tree and decorated it. The Roman Catholics Church took time to accept this tradition. Steadily the Christmas tree started moving from Germany to the other European countries like Canada, England, Austria, France and so on. The candles were used along with fruits to decorate the tree. The urban population was the first to start erecting Christmas tree. The tradition took time to enter the rural areas of various countries. The royal family of England was the first to erect the Christmas tree at Windsor Castle.

After Britain, the tradition of erecting the Christmas tree went to America. The states of Connecticut, Pennsylvania were the first to start with this tradition as some settlers in these states had German connections. The German immigrants started the tradition of erecting the Christmas tree in different parts of America.