The Pagan, Medieval, and German Roots of Today’s Christmas Tree
The pre-Christmas season makes us think of nicely decorated homes, ginger bread houses, family gatherings, and Christmas trees. Many people, however, do not know any of the details of the pagan origins of today’s Christmas trees. The idea of bringing trees into the house has roots going back to the pagan past of European countries. Dorothea Forstner, choir woman of the Benedictines in St. Gabriel of Berholdstein, is quoted in Pagan Christmas explaining the pagan roots of the Christmas tree. Forstner explains that “[b]y bringing branches or trees into contact with human beings, the fresh and blossoming life of nature and its fertility was transferred into them, and evil influences were warded off.” According to Forstner, the time period between December 25th and January 6th was especially important for those rituals because evil spirits were feared the most during those days. During those days, “green branches were hung, candles lit – and all these things were used as a means of defense.” Instead of branches, people later on put whole trees in their houses and hung candles on them for the same purposes of defending the household and symbolizing the return of light and life. The church retained those traditions and “gave them a new meaning as a symbol for Christ: the true tree of life and light of the world.”[1]
The authors of Pagan Christmas also explain the connection of the time period we refer to as Christmas to the Julfest in countries of the high north, especially Scandinavian countries. The word Jul, according to Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling, refers to the long wintertime period of those Scandinavian countries as Jul supposedly comes from a Middle High German word that is an invocation of the sun. The invocation of the sun seems a logical meaning for the word when we take into consideration the fact that in those Scandinavian countries the sun never even reaches the horizon in midwinter. The connection of the winter solstice and today’s Christmas is that they both symbolize new beginnings: the return of the sunlight also represents the return of life. The long nights and dark days are slowly being replaced again with a time of light and sunshine.[2]
This pagan explanation of the origins of the Christmas tree, however, is only one way of explaining on what customs the Christmas tree is based. Another explanation sees the origins of the Christmas tree in the medieval tradition of mystery plays and the tree of paradise displayed in those plays on December 24th. December 24th was the commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve in various countries, which is why those mystery plays covered the Fall of Man from the Book of Genesis and the forgiveness of humanity’s sins through Christ’s death. Those plays included an ever-green tree, which was decorated with apples. Those apples represented the forbidden fruit that led to the Fall of Man. The decorations of the paradise tree in churches became more elaborate with the years and later, according to this explanation, the paradise tree was moved from the churches into homes of common people and the apples were replaced by round objects like red balls. Thus, the Christmas tree and the Christmas tree decorations, according to this explanation, originated in a Christian tradition. [3]
The first evidence for decorated trees at Christmas, however, comes from Latvia and Estonia in 1510 and 1514 respectively. In both instances, members of local guilds gathered at the market place on Christmas Eve, danced around a fir tree adorned with paper roses, and then burned it. The first reported German Christmas trees date back to 1531 in Alsace. There, unadorned trees were erected on tables because it was forbidden to cut firs more than four feet in height according to a local forest ordinance. Thus, the first Christmas trees in most parts of Germany were erected on tables because they were not very tall. A tradition that can still be seen in some parts of Germany to this day. [4]
The modern idea of the Christmas tree is a product of Germany. The tradition of putting lights on Christmas trees is often attributed to Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, Martin Luther incorporated candles to symbolize the abundant stars that he had witnessed on a clear Christmas Eve. The lights, however, can also be linked back to the ideas of the winter solstice with its new beginnings and new light in the world. Before candles appeared on Christmas trees, however, they adorned the related Christmas pyramid (Weihnachtspyramide). A contemporary Christmas pyramid can be seen below. Those Christmas pyramids are still prominent in Germany today. From Germany, the traditions of Christmas trees and Christmas pyramids spread first to the rest of northern Europe and then further to many other parts of the world.[5]
The tradition of the Christmas tree spread to America through the Moravian Church. Members of the church from Germany established their first permanent settlement in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1747. Even though there are legends about Hessian troops decorating the first trees in the Americas during the American Revolution, initial evidence documenting the use of decorated fir trees in the United States dates from the 1820s. The first accounts of Christmas trees in the United States are from 1821 and 1823 from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and a Pennsylvania Dutch community. The accounts of those Christmas trees do not include any information about candles hung on the Christmas trees. The first account of Christmas trees in the United States that included candles is from 1832 in Boston. From the eastern coast of the United States, the tradition of the Christmas tree spread across the continent to the more rural western settlements thanks to German settlers. But only in the 1860s did Christmas trees achieve ceiling height and were put on the floor instead of a table as in earlier times.[6]
Another popular myth about the origins of the Christmas tree tradition is that the Saxon-born Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, erected a decorated tree at Windsor Castle in 1841 to celebrate the birth of his first-born son. According to the legend this introduced the custom of Christmas trees to the United Kingdom. The English royal family, however, had been decorating Christmas trees since the early nineteenth century. The publication in 1848 of a photograph of a tree at Windsor Castle decorated with expensive sweetmeats, candy, gingerbread, and a winged angel as a tree topper, however, marks the moment that Christmas trees achieved widespread appeal in the United Kingdom.[7]
In today’s world, we associate the Christmas tree with the Christmas holidays and their Christian meaning. We have mostly forgotten about the pagan past of the ideas of putting trees and tree branches in houses. The Christmas tree is fully associated with the Christian tradition of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the Christmas tree reigns as the chief physical symbol of Christmas primarily in northern Europe, the United States, Australia, and regions of Canada. In southern Europe, Latin America, and in other Spanish-speaking regions, the Nativity scene predominates. [8] The tradition of the Christmas tree, as can be seen in this blog post, is a rather young tradition, even though its pagan roots go back further than many would expect. The first written accounts of modern Christmas trees can be found in the early sixteenth century, but the custom did not become widespread until the nineteenth century.
About the author:Melanie Reimann is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Robert McCoy. Her research fields are Native American and First Nation history, as well as the U.S./Canadian West. She received her B.A. in English and History and her M.A. in History from Bielefeld University in Germany. She moved from Germany to Pullman in August 2015.Her thesis will focus on protest and resistance among tribes in Washington State and British Columbia regarding their treatment by the U.S. and Canadian governments. To see Melanie's other post click here
[1]Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 2006), 19ff.
[2]Rätsch and Müller-Ebeling, Pagan Christmas, 9ff.
[3]Barbara Walter, Der Weihnachtsbaum in Brauchtum und Bedeutung (Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag, 2012), 4.
[4]William D. Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, Third Edition (Jefferson, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013), 139.
[5]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 140.
[6]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 140f.
[7]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 140.
[8]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 139.
The authors of Pagan Christmas also explain the connection of the time period we refer to as Christmas to the Julfest in countries of the high north, especially Scandinavian countries. The word Jul, according to Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling, refers to the long wintertime period of those Scandinavian countries as Jul supposedly comes from a Middle High German word that is an invocation of the sun. The invocation of the sun seems a logical meaning for the word when we take into consideration the fact that in those Scandinavian countries the sun never even reaches the horizon in midwinter. The connection of the winter solstice and today’s Christmas is that they both symbolize new beginnings: the return of the sunlight also represents the return of life. The long nights and dark days are slowly being replaced again with a time of light and sunshine.[2]
This pagan explanation of the origins of the Christmas tree, however, is only one way of explaining on what customs the Christmas tree is based. Another explanation sees the origins of the Christmas tree in the medieval tradition of mystery plays and the tree of paradise displayed in those plays on December 24th. December 24th was the commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve in various countries, which is why those mystery plays covered the Fall of Man from the Book of Genesis and the forgiveness of humanity’s sins through Christ’s death. Those plays included an ever-green tree, which was decorated with apples. Those apples represented the forbidden fruit that led to the Fall of Man. The decorations of the paradise tree in churches became more elaborate with the years and later, according to this explanation, the paradise tree was moved from the churches into homes of common people and the apples were replaced by round objects like red balls. Thus, the Christmas tree and the Christmas tree decorations, according to this explanation, originated in a Christian tradition. [3]
The first evidence for decorated trees at Christmas, however, comes from Latvia and Estonia in 1510 and 1514 respectively. In both instances, members of local guilds gathered at the market place on Christmas Eve, danced around a fir tree adorned with paper roses, and then burned it. The first reported German Christmas trees date back to 1531 in Alsace. There, unadorned trees were erected on tables because it was forbidden to cut firs more than four feet in height according to a local forest ordinance. Thus, the first Christmas trees in most parts of Germany were erected on tables because they were not very tall. A tradition that can still be seen in some parts of Germany to this day. [4]
The tradition of the Christmas tree spread to America through the Moravian Church. Members of the church from Germany established their first permanent settlement in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1747. Even though there are legends about Hessian troops decorating the first trees in the Americas during the American Revolution, initial evidence documenting the use of decorated fir trees in the United States dates from the 1820s. The first accounts of Christmas trees in the United States are from 1821 and 1823 from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and a Pennsylvania Dutch community. The accounts of those Christmas trees do not include any information about candles hung on the Christmas trees. The first account of Christmas trees in the United States that included candles is from 1832 in Boston. From the eastern coast of the United States, the tradition of the Christmas tree spread across the continent to the more rural western settlements thanks to German settlers. But only in the 1860s did Christmas trees achieve ceiling height and were put on the floor instead of a table as in earlier times.[6]
Another popular myth about the origins of the Christmas tree tradition is that the Saxon-born Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, erected a decorated tree at Windsor Castle in 1841 to celebrate the birth of his first-born son. According to the legend this introduced the custom of Christmas trees to the United Kingdom. The English royal family, however, had been decorating Christmas trees since the early nineteenth century. The publication in 1848 of a photograph of a tree at Windsor Castle decorated with expensive sweetmeats, candy, gingerbread, and a winged angel as a tree topper, however, marks the moment that Christmas trees achieved widespread appeal in the United Kingdom.[7]
In today’s world, we associate the Christmas tree with the Christmas holidays and their Christian meaning. We have mostly forgotten about the pagan past of the ideas of putting trees and tree branches in houses. The Christmas tree is fully associated with the Christian tradition of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the Christmas tree reigns as the chief physical symbol of Christmas primarily in northern Europe, the United States, Australia, and regions of Canada. In southern Europe, Latin America, and in other Spanish-speaking regions, the Nativity scene predominates. [8] The tradition of the Christmas tree, as can be seen in this blog post, is a rather young tradition, even though its pagan roots go back further than many would expect. The first written accounts of modern Christmas trees can be found in the early sixteenth century, but the custom did not become widespread until the nineteenth century.
About the author:Melanie Reimann is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Robert McCoy. Her research fields are Native American and First Nation history, as well as the U.S./Canadian West. She received her B.A. in English and History and her M.A. in History from Bielefeld University in Germany. She moved from Germany to Pullman in August 2015.Her thesis will focus on protest and resistance among tribes in Washington State and British Columbia regarding their treatment by the U.S. and Canadian governments. To see Melanie's other post click here
[1]Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 2006), 19ff.
[2]Rätsch and Müller-Ebeling, Pagan Christmas, 9ff.
[3]Barbara Walter, Der Weihnachtsbaum in Brauchtum und Bedeutung (Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag, 2012), 4.
[4]William D. Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, Third Edition (Jefferson, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013), 139.
[5]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 140.
[6]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 140f.
[7]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 140.
[8]Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 139.
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