Christmas tree facts for kids
The Christmas tree is a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. It is normally an evergreen coniferous tree that is cut in the wild and brought into the home. It is decorated with Christmas lights and colourful ornaments during the days around Christmas. An angel or a star is often placed at the top of the tree. Fir trees outside the home may be decorated in a similar fashion.
Origin of the modern Christmas tree
Modern Christmas trees originated during the Renaissance in early modern Germany. Its 16th-century origins are sometimes associated with Protestant Christian reformer Martin Luther, who is said to have first added lighted candles to an evergreen tree.
The earliest known firmly dated representation of a Christmas tree is on the keystone sculpture of a private home in Turckheim, Alsace (then part of Germany, today France), with the date 1576.
It is commonly believed that ancient Romans used to decorate their houses with evergreen trees to celebrate Saturnalia, although there are no historical records of that.
The Vikings and Saxons worshiped trees. The story of Saint Boniface cutting down Donar's Oak illustrates the pagan practices in 8th century among the Germans. A later folk version of the story adds the detail that an evergreen tree grew in place of the felled oak, telling them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the Trinity and how it points to heaven.
Types of trees used
Both natural and artificial trees are used as Christmas trees.
Some trees are sold live with roots and soil, often from a nursery, to be planted later outdoors and enjoyed (and often decorated) for years or decades.
Artificial trees have become increasingly popular, as they are considered more convenient and (if used for several years) less expensive than real trees. Trees come in a number of colors and "species", and some come pre-decorated with lights. At the end of the Christmas season artificial trees can be disassembled and stored compactly.
The first artificial trees that were not green were the metallic trees, introduced about 1958, and quite popular through the 1960s.
Other artificial trees may look nothing like a conifer except for the triangular or conical shape. These may be made from cardboard, glass, plastic, or from stacked items such as ornaments. Such items are often used as tabletop decorations.
Images for kids
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Christmas Tree decorated with ribbons, stars and glass balls
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Glade jul by Viggo Johansen (1891)
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Family decorating Christmas tree (ca. 1970s)
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Martin Luther is depicted with his family and friends in front of a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve
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The hanging of a podłaźniczka is an old Polish folk custom dating back to pagan traditions.
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German Christmas tree, book illustration 1888
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An engraving published in the 1840s of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert created a craze for Christmas trees.
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Decorated Chichilaki at the Orbeliani Palace
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General and Mrs. Riedesel celebrating Christmas.
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An early example of public Christmas tree for the children of unemployed parents in Prague (Czech Republic), 1931
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Adding decorations to tree
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Christmas ornaments at the Christmas market, Strasbourg
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A large scale Christmas tree farm in the United States
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Undecorated Christmas trees for sale
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Baling a tree
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A grower in Waterloo, Nova Scotia, prunes balsam fir trees in October. The tree must experience three frosts to stabilize the needles before cutting.
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Trees on sale at a Christmas market in Vienna, painting by Carl Wenzel Zajicek (1908)
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An artificial Christmas tree
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Christmas tree recycling point (point recyclage de sapins)
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Woodchipping Christmas trees
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St Boniface felling the Donar Oaktree
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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.
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First published image of a Christmas tree, frontispiece to Hermann Bokum's 1836 The Stranger's Gift
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The Christmas tree by Winslow Homer, 1858
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Christmas in the Netherlands, c. 1899
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Illustration for Harper's Bazaar, published 1 January 1870
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Christmas tree depicted as Christmas card by Prang & Co. (Boston) 1880
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Vera Komissarzhevskaya as Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House (c. 1904). Photo by Elena Mrozovskaya.
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An Italian-American family on Christmas, 1924
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A Christmas tree from 1951, in a home in New York state
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Christmas tree with presents
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Christmas Tree in the cozy room at the Wisconsin Governor's mansion.
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A Soviet-era (1960s) New Year tree decoration depicting a cosmonaut
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Christmas Trees in church
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A chrismon tree (St. Alban's Anglican Cathedral, Oviedo, Florida)
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Christmas tree in Piazza del Duomo to Milan in 2019.
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Christmas tree in Vatican City, 2007
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Christmas tree in Salerno old town, Italy, 2008.
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Christmas tree on Minin and Pozharsky Square, 2018. Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
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Christmas tree and Metropolitan Cathedral at Mexico's City zócalo
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A large Christmas tree front of the Turku Cathedral in Turku (Finland), 2009
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Christmas tree on the Römerberg in Frankfurt (2008)
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in Lisbon (2005), at 75 metres (246 feet) the tallest Christmas tree in Europe.
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An Árbol navideño luminoso in Madrid (2011)
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Christmas tree in Warsaw
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Christmas tree in Stockholm at the NK department store
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Christmas trees in Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, Hong Kong
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Christmas tree in Lugano (2018)
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Christmas tree in Bethlehem, behind it Church of the Nativity, 2014
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A tree with fibre optic lights
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White Christmas tree
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Spanish artificial Christmas tree
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An artificial Aluminum Christmas tree
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Artificial tree
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See also
In Spanish: Árbol de Navidad para niños
