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During the Advent season, you’ll see Christmas trees, lovingly decorated with ornaments and bright lights, to add color and joy to the dark season everywhere. You may have already put up your tree around Thanksgiving or are decorating one right now. But, did you know that the tradition of Christmas trees has fascinating roots? Let’s explore!
Trees for centuries
The custom of decorating Christmas trees originated in Central Europe, particularly Germany and Livonia (now Estonia and Latvia). Devout Christians in the 16th century brought decorated trees into their homes, while some even built Christmas pyramids out of wood and adorned them with evergreens and candles. This custom is still very common in eastern parts of Germany, such as in the Erzgebirge region.
Evergreen trees also held special meaning during winter for ancient people. They symbolized life and vitality. People hung evergreen boughs over doors and windows to keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. Early Germanic tribes hung up small fir trees upside down in their huts to create a fresh fragrance, soak up moisture from their (normally) stomped earth floors, also serving as a natural disinfectant.
Early Romans marked the winter solstice with a feast called Saturnalia, decorating their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. Druids in Northern Europe adorned their temples with evergreens as a symbol of everlasting life. The Vikings honored mistletoe (an evergreen) for its role in the death of Balder, a god of light.
And, no matter where you go around the world at this time of the year, you’re bound to hit on a Christmas tree, whether alive or artificial. The world-famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, decorated with five miles of fairy lights, is lit shortly after Thanksgiving, and tree lighting ceremonies take place throughout the Kaiserslautern Military Community. In some more southern areas, you might see Christmas palms or colorful poinsettia arrangements, and you will certainly be blared by holiday tunes.
Sing along song
Perhaps the most popular German Christmas carol, “O Tannenbaum,” is sung up and down the country, and not just on Christmas Eve. Surprisingly, the piece originally had nothing to do with the Advent season and is a mixture of a popular student hit and a sad love song.
There is no escape. Wherever you go during Advent, from the shoe store to the Christmas market, “O Tannenbaum” is already there. The song – like the plant it sings about – is a real evergreen. And in many families, the performance of this German Christmas classic is as much a part of Christmas Eve as presents and potato salad. But very few people know what melody they are actually singing.
As early as the late 18th century, young academics belted out the piece “Lauriger Horatius” (Laurel Hero Horatius). The text was in Latin because they were among educated citizens. Translated into German, the lines didn’t sound particularly contemplative, so how did the wine-filled student song become a Christmas classic?
This is – in part at least – the achievement of the preacher and educator August Zarnack, who worked as educational director of the Potsdam orphanage from 1815. Probably inspired by an old folk tune written in the early 17th century, he wrote the first “Oh Christmas tree” verse, as we still sing it today. But the meaning of the song was completely different back then: Instead of Christmas music, Zarnack wanted to write a sad love song. This is what his second verse reveals. “Oh little girl, oh little girl, how wrong is your mind,” it says. In Zarnack’s original version, the faithful leaves of the evergreen tree are the counterpart to a faithless lover.
It was not until 1824 that the Leipzig teacher Ernst Anschütz took the verses and converted them into a Christmas carol. The piece was fitting at a time when more and more families were putting up fir trees in their homes during Advent. There is one small mistake in the original German text, which reads “wie treu sind deine Blätter” (how true are your leaves), as fir trees don’t have leaves, but needles instead. The song has been translated into at least 50 languages and is now commonly sung around the world.
Silent Night
Another famous Christmas song that originates from Austria is “Silent Night.” Joseph Mohr, a young Catholic priest, had penned the poem in 1816. The carol was composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics written by Mohr.
The song “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht” was first performed on Christmas Eve at the Nikolauskirche in Oberndorf, Austria. Gruber, a schoolmaster and organist, quickly composed the melody and guitar accompaniment for that night’s mass. Legend has it that mice damaged the organ and the song was spontaneously sung a-cappella by the church congregation.
The English translation most frequently sung today is by John Freeman Young in 1859. The song has been translated into more than 140 languages worldwide, including Japanese and known as “Kiyoshi kono yoru,” making it the most popular carol ever.
Oh Tannenbaum, oh Tannenbaum…..
