Various sources undoubtedly share different pieces of information on this subject. We know that, especially for Christians, decorating a tree during Christmas holds great importance and is even an indispensable ritual.
Let’s hear a brief take on this topic from historian and archaeologist Umut M. Doğan. Here’s what this esteemed scholar says about it:
“The tradition of decorating a tree with various fruits and objects to symbolize fertility and abundance, by considering the tree as sacred, is one of the oldest rituals in human history.
However, the use of a decorated tree with a religious identity in Christianity began in the very recent past. The tradition of the tree with prayer, which gradually took on various meanings in Christianity, was first practiced by German Christians in the 16th century.
It is accepted by several historical researchers that the first such practice was introduced by Martin Luther, the founder of Protestant Christianity in Germany.
Thus, according to these studies, Protestant Christianity, which quickly spread in Germany, incorporated many elements from Celtic and Scandinavian mythology and pagan traditions, which were adapted into Christianity and spread among society. (Umut M. Doğan)
WAS IT A GERMAN TRADITION?
According to some other historians/experts on the other hand (as shared on web page with url inserted below), the Christmas tree originated as a minor, localised tradition in the 17th century in a single place: the Alsatian capital of Strasbourg. German citizens of Strasbourg included a tree as part of a judgement tradition on Christmas day. Children would be judged by their parents. If good, bonbons would be left under a tree. If bad, there would be no bonbons – a hint of what was to come on Judgement Day.
The ritual spread to other parts of Germany in the 1770s. The German romantic novelist Goethe offered the first account of the Christmas tree to reach a wide audience in Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). But it wasn’t widely adopted in Germany until the 1830s, after the Christmas tree began to gain popularity in America.
(source: theconversation.com/a-story-of-legends-families-and-capitalism-a-candid-history-of-the-christmas-tree-196278)
To recap, although it appears to be a Christian tradition in the modern era, the culture of trees and the tradition of sanctifying them by decorating them, actually dates back to the earliest ages of humanity. Therefore, it could and should be considered a heritage of human history, symbolizing world brotherhood. (Umut M. Doğan)
TAGS: Chritmas, tree, religion, noel, celebration, new year, origination, popularity, Germany, Martin Luther, Alsatian, Strasbourg, history, historian archaeology, archaeologist, Umut M. Doğan, Edirne, Turkey
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