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While the beauty of Christmas trees are common in many homes during December, the traditions and meanings behind the trees vary from culture to culture. During the Christmas season, putting up Christmas trees is an exciting family tradition. Christmas trees are put up by many different familes for multiple causes. The tradition of Christmas trees started around the 1700’s in Germany, and the trees symbolize everlasting life to Christians and the coming of spring to Pagans.
In the beginning, the tradition of bringing trees into homes originated in Germany (Britannica.com).
Once the trees were brought into the homes, Germans decorated apples, nuts, and cookies then put them on their trees. (precisiontreemn.com). Apples, nuts, and cookies were the most commonly used because that was the most common materials in homes. In addition, trees were very important to Germans, as they would spend time together decorating them for the season.
As the tradition of Christmas trees spread, the Pagans put them up in their homes like the Germans.
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Since the Pagans didn’t believe in gods, they had different reasons for bringing trees into their homes. The Pagans worshipped trees, for they thought the trees would brighten their spirits during the winter solstice and make spring come sooner (history.com)
The Germans and the Scandinavians had very similar customs, yet in many ways they were different. While both cultures put up trees to scare off the devil, the Germans put them in the doorway, and the Scandinavians put them in their barns.
The reason for putting their trees in their barns was to provide a place for the birds to build a nest during the winter months (Britanica.com)
The news of placing Christmas trees in homes spread to the Christians when Queen Victoria put one up in her home. The tradition later reached the Egyptians, Hebrews, and the Chinese who put the tree up to symbolize eternal life. The Christians put them up as a sign of an everlasting god (Britannica.com). The trees were decorated and placed in their homes during the Christmas season.
The Europeans would put up trees at winter festivals, but their trees were very short compared to the Americans (whychristmas.com). Europeans wanted their trees to be about four feet tall because they would take up less space and could put them on their tables (precisiontreemn.com). This was quite a contrast from the Americans, but the trees symbolize similar things. The Americans would find trees that would go to their ceilings (precisiontreemn.com). The Americans wanted them to the ceiling because they wanted the tree to be a staple in their homes.
Furthermore, Christmas treees have numerous meanings besides decorating. When people put up Evergreen Boughs in their homes, it meant fertility and new life (abc.net.au). People would hope to start a family and hope for new beginnings in the new year. In addition, Christmas trees remained green, so they were very special to people (history.com). Trees were special to people because they were a symbol of everlasting life.
Around America, farms hold more than 350 million Christmas trees each year. The custom of putting Christmas trees up started in Germany, then quickly spread across the world. The Germans started the tradition of putting up Christmas trees around the 1700’s, and the trees symbolize many different things for cultures around the world.
Family Christmas Traditions We Observe. (2021, Dec 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/family-christmas-traditions-we-observe-essay
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