The custom was developed in Central Europe, particularly Germany and Livonia (now Estonia and Latvia), where Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.[2][3][4] The tree was traditionally decorated with "roses made of colored paper, apples, wafers, tinsel, [and] sweetmeats".[2] Moravian Christians began to illuminate Christmas trees with candles,[5] which were often replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification.[6] Today, there is a wide variety of traditional and modern ornaments, such as garlands, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehem, respectively, from the Nativity.[7][8] Edible items such as gingerbread, chocolate, and other sweets are also popular and are tied to or hung from the tree's branches with ribbons. The Christmas tree has been historically regarded as a custom of the Lutheran Churches and only in 1982 did the Catholic Church erect the Vatican Christmas Tree.[9]
In the Western Christian tradition, Christmas trees are variously erected on days such as the first day of Advent or even as late as Christmas Eve depending on the country;[10] customs of the same faith hold that it is unlucky to remove Christmas decorations, such as the Christmas tree, before Twelfth Night and, if they are not taken down on that day, it is appropriate to do so on Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations.[10][11][12]
The Christmas tree is sometimes compared with the "Yule-tree", especially in discussions of its folkloric origins.[13][14][15]
Copy of an 1848 engraving of the British royal family with their tree, modified and widely published in American magazine Godey's Lady's Book, 1850.
First published image of a Christmas tree, frontispiece to Hermann Bokum's 1836 The Stranger's Gift
The Christmas tree by Winslow Homer, 1858
Christmas in the Netherlands, c. 1899
An Italian-American family on Christmas, 1924
Golden glass ball/bauble
Snowman/baseball novelty ornament
Toy bear decoration
Egg shaped glass ornament
Cloth cotton batting ornament
Imitation tree snow
Straw ornaments
![Polish bombka [pl] baubles](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Bombki_ze_wstazek.jpg/200px-Bombki_ze_wstazek.jpg)
Swaddled babies, 1850–1899
Paper maché ornament
Faceted indented glass ornament
Ceramic ornament
Glass icicle ornaments
String of tinsel
Stringing lights on tree
Squirrel eating popcorn and cranberry garland off Christmas tree
Symbolism and interpretations[edit]
The earliest legend of the origin of a fir tree becoming a Christian symbol dates back to 723 AD, involving Saint Boniface as he was evangelizing Germany.[108] It is said that at a pagan gathering in Geismar where a group of people dancing under a decorated oak tree were about to sacrifice a baby in the name of Thor, Saint Boniface took an axe and called on the name of Jesus.[108] In one swipe, he managed to take down the entire oak tree, to the crowd's astonishment.[108] Behind the fallen tree was a baby fir tree.[108] Boniface said, "let this tree be the symbol of the true God, its leaves are ever green and will not die." The tree's needles pointed to heaven and it was shaped triangularly to represent the Holy Trinity.[108]
When decorating the Christmas tree, many individuals place a star at the top of the tree symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem.[7][109] It became popular for people to also use an angel to top the Christmas tree in order to symbolize the angels mentioned in the accounts of the Nativity of Jesus.[8] Additionally, in the context of a Christian celebration of Christmas, the evergreen Christmas tree symbolizes eternal life; the candles or lights on the tree represent Christ as the light of the world.[6][110]
Discarded trees by garbage dumpsters
Woodchipping Christmas trees
The debate about the environmental impact of artificial trees is ongoing. Generally, natural tree growers contend that artificial trees are more environmentally harmful than their natural counterparts.[132] However, trade groups such as the American Christmas Tree Association, claim that the PVC used in Christmas trees is chemically and mechanically stable and does not affect human health and has excellent recyclable properties.[134]
Live trees are typically grown as a crop and replanted in rotation after cutting, often providing suitable habitat for wildlife.[135] Alternately, live trees can be donated to livestock farmers who find that such trees uncontaminated by chemical additives are excellent fodder.[136] In some cases management of Christmas tree crops can result in poor habitat since it sometimes involves heavy input of pesticides.[137]
Concerns have been raised by arborists about people cutting down old and rare conifers, such as the Keteleeria evelyniana for Christmas trees.[138]
Real or cut trees are used only for a short time, but can be recycled and used as mulch, wildlife habitat, or used to prevent erosion.[139][140][141] Real trees are carbon-neutral, they emit no more carbon dioxide by being cut down and disposed of than they absorb while growing.[142] However, emissions can occur from farming activities and transportation. An independent life-cycle assessment study, conducted by a firm of experts in sustainable development, states that a natural tree will generate 3.1 kg (6.8 lb) of greenhouse gases every year (based on purchasing 5 km (3.1 mi) from home) whereas the artificial tree will produce 48.3 kg (106 lb) over its lifetime.[143] Some people use living Christmas or potted trees for several seasons, providing a longer life cycle for each tree. Living Christmas trees can be purchased or rented from local market growers. Rentals are picked up after the holidays, while purchased trees can be planted by the owner after use or donated to local tree adoption or urban reforestation services.[144] Smaller and younger trees may be replanted after each season, with the following year running up to the next Christmas allowing the tree to carry out further growth.
The use of lead stabilizer in Chinese imported trees has been an issue of concern among politicians and scientists over recent years. A 2004 study found that while in general artificial trees pose little health risk from lead contamination, there do exist "worst-case scenarios" where major health risks to young children exist.[145] A 2008 United States Environmental Protection Agency report found that as the PVC in artificial Christmas trees aged it began to degrade.[146] The report determined that of the fifty million artificial trees in the United States approximately twenty million were nine or more years old, the point where dangerous lead contamination levels are reached.[146] A professional study on the life-cycle assessment of both real and artificial Christmas trees revealed that one must use an artificial Christmas tree at least twenty years to leave an environmental footprint as small as the natural Christmas tree.[143]
St Boniface felling the Donar Oak
A 1931 edition of the Soviet magazine Bezbozhnik, distributed by the League of Militant Atheists, depicting an Orthodox Christian priest being forbidden to cut down a tree for Christmas
Under the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of state atheism in the Soviet Union, after its foundation in 1917, Christmas celebrations—along with other religious holidays—were prohibited as a result of the Soviet anti-religious campaign.[147][148][89] The League of Militant Atheists encouraged school pupils to campaign against Christmas traditions, among them being the Christmas tree, as well as other Christian holidays, including Easter; the League established an anti-religious holiday to be the 31st of each month as a replacement.[149] With the Christmas tree being prohibited in accordance with Soviet anti-religious legislation, people supplanted the former Christmas custom with New Year's trees.[89][150] In 1935, the tree was brought back as New Year tree and became a secular, not a religious holiday.
Pope John Paul II introduced the Christmas tree custom to the Vatican in 1982. Although at first disapproved of by some as out of place at the centre of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican Christmas Tree has become an integral part of the Vatican Christmas celebrations,[151] and in 2005 Pope Benedict XVI spoke of it as part of the normal Christmas decorations in Catholic homes.[152] In 2004, Pope John Paul called the Christmas tree a symbol of Christ. This very ancient custom, he said, exalts the value of life, as in winter what is evergreen becomes a sign of undying life, and it reminds Christians of the "tree of life",[153] an image of Christ, the supreme gift of God to humanity.[154] In the previous year he said: "Beside the crib, the Christmas tree, with its twinkling lights, reminds us that with the birth of Jesus the tree of life has blossomed anew in the desert of humanity. The crib and the tree: precious symbols, which hand down in time the true meaning of Christmas."[155] The Catholic Church's official Book of Blessings has a service for the blessing of the Christmas tree in a home.[156] The Episcopal Church in The Anglican Family Prayer Book, which has the imprimatur of The Rt. Rev. Catherine S. Roskam of the Anglican Communion, has long had a ritual titled Blessing of a Christmas Tree, as well as Blessing of a Crèche, for use in the church and the home; family services and public liturgies for the blessing of Christmas trees are common in other Christian denominations as well.[157][158]
Chrismon trees, which find their origin in the Lutheran Christian tradition though now used in many Christian denominations such as the Catholic Church and Methodist Church, are used to decorate churches during the liturgical season of Advent; during the period of Christmastide, Christian churches display the traditional Christmas tree in their sanctuaries.[159]
In 2005, the city of Boston renamed the spruce tree used to decorate the Boston Common a "Holiday Tree" rather than a "Christmas Tree".[160] The name change was reversed after the city was threatened with several lawsuits.[161]
