Christmas 2023: What is the Significance and History of the Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree is one of the most visible and popular symbols of the festival of Christmas. Placing a Christmas tree in one’s home and decorating it has been a long-standing Christmas tradition.

The Christmas tree is the place where Santa Clause leaves Christmas gifts for everyone. But what does the Christmas Tree symbolise? What does the Christmas tree represent? Why do people keep Christmas trees in their homes? Let us look into the history of the Christmas tree, its symbolism and history.

A Brief History of the Christmas Tree

Firstly, in order to understand what the Christmas tree symbolizes, one needs to look back at other similar traditions in history.

Ancient Greeks and Romans

The use of bringing placing Christmas tree into their home dates as far back as the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Both civilisations would have mid-winter celebrations and festivals to honour the winter solstice which falls on the 21st of December in the Northern Hemisphere.

Celts and Vikings

The Celts of Northern Europe and the Vikings of Scandanavia also had mid-winter festivals for the same reason.

Evergreen plants in winter symbolism

In all these civilisations there were practices of decorating the home with evergreen plants. The placing of evergreen plant was a way to remind them that this was the darkest point of the year, and that hope was on its way with the days getting lighter and brighter.

Evergreens and greenery were used as a symbol for winter festivals as these were the plants that would last all year round and were believed by some people to protect the house from evil spirits, witches, ghosts and illnesses.

Other people believed that they would be protected as these plants would remain green throughout the year, especially throughout winter; it was not only a sign of protection but also of good health.

What is the true origin of the Christmas tree?

Christmas tree tradition from Germany

Whilst the Christmas tree was originally a pagan religious symbol of celebration through the tradition of bringing evergreen plants into the home. The relatively recent tradition of bringing an evergreen tree into the home is attributed to Germany.

Pyramid tree

The Christmas tree started off as being a pyramid tree if people could not find a plant to represent the tree. People would use wood to create a pyramid and decorate it with nuts, gingerbread, apples, paper, and candles to resemble a tree.

The trees and pyramids would usually be paraded around the town to show to the other households on Christmas Eve as a sign of health, in order to keep the evil spirits away. It became popular throughout the 16th century, slowly it spread to become highly popular among nobility and royalty.

Is the Christmas tree a religious symbol?

Saturnalia and God of Ra

Romans would use evergreens to decorate their temples for the festival of Saturnalia, Ancient Egyptians would similarly use green palm rushes to decorate their temples as part of worship to the God of Ra.

Martin Luther and decorating trees

It is believed that the first known Christmas tree that was brought and decorated was during the 16th century by a man called Martin Luther. It was said that on his walk home, he saw the stars through the evergreen trees and went home to tell his children that it reminded of him of Jesus. He later wrote a sermon about the experience for his church, leading to the spread of people decorating the trees with candles as a symbol of letting Jesus into their homes. In modern terms, the meaning of a Christmas tree is that the Christmas tree represents Jesus and the light he brings to the world, for Christians.

Why do we decorate Christmas trees?

Decorating Christmas trees came from the tradition of covering the tree or ‘Christmas pyramid’ with gingerbread, candles, and various other decorations to replicate/resemble the nativity story of Jesus.

Decorating a Christmas tree became a family and community event. When people would go around presenting and showing others their Christmas trees/pyramids, they were inviting people to the church to watch their nativity performance on the story of Christ.

Though as the years went by, it was more common for families to keep their trees inside to decorate as their own, and not as showpieces for the village.

Why do we put ornaments on a Christmas tree?

Decorating the Christmas tree has become a deep-rooted tradition for families. It is that time of the year when the entire family comes together to decorate the tree and then sit around it and place presents under it for each other.

But with regards the origin as to why we put ornaments on the tree we have to go back to the 16th century. Europeans would decorate their trees with apples to symbolise the paradise tree in the story of Adam and Eve, as so to remind them of the paradise tree that held the forbidden fruit Eve succumbed to.

The Christmas trees were later decorated with delicious treats like gingerbread in the shape of stars, angels, and holly as we know it today.

The first Christmas bauble

It is said that the first glass ornament was created by glassblower Hans Greine. This happened because he couldn’t afford to buy apples, so he decided to make his own glass apples. When others saw his creations, they began to order his glass apples and other glass ornaments that resembled fruit and nuts to symbolise the Christmas holiday. And that is how we got the Christmas bauble we know and love today.

Why do we put lights on a Christmas tree?

Putting lights on a tree goes back to the idea of the lights representing Jesus as a symbol of light in the darkness that surrounds the world. The lights and ornaments on the Christmas tree came to represent the stars and planets in the sky. Many Christians would place a manger under their trees as so to replicate the nativity of Jesus Christ under the stars.

Though it wasn’t until the mid-19th century that Americans and British people would actually decorate their trees. It became fashionable after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband brought the tradition over from Germany.

Originally Christmas trees were decorated with candles, which was quite a fire hazard and so many households would keep buckets of sand or water close by.

In 1882, once Thomas Edison developed electricity, his partner Edward Johnson decorated his tree with electric lights and adopted the title “Father of the Electric Christmas Tree”. From there the custom of decorating Christmas trees with electric lights grew and by 1920 electric Christmas lights were used widely as a piece of decoration.

Why do we put tinsel on a Christmas tree?

Tinsel was created in Europe in the 17th century, it was developed by hammering silver alloy until it became paper-thin and cut into strips. Tinsel was added as a decoration for a Christmas tree to reflect the candle flames flicker and glisten. It looked like the twinkling stars in the sky, on their trees.