Christmas Tree: Nature & History

Reflections on a charming tradition.

Long before the Christmas tree became a decorative tradition, the fir (Tanne in German) had been associated with eternal life and fidelity because it remains vividly green even during the coldest of winters. The idea is expressed in the German folk song.

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
How faithful are your leaves!
You’re green not only in the summertime,
No, also in winter when it snows.

Wikipedia provides a brief history of the Christmas tree tradition:

Modern Christmas trees originated in Central Europe and the Baltic states, particularly Estonia, Germany and Livonia (now Latvia) during the Renaissance in early modern Europe. 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 Christmas tree was first recorded to be used by German Lutherans in the 16th century, with records indicating that a Christmas tree was placed in the Cathedral of Strasbourg in 1539 under the leadership of the Protestant Reformer Martin Bucer. The Moravian Christians put lighted candles on those trees."^[ 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 the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, today part of France), with the date 1576.

Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert, are credited with widely introducing the Christmas tree tradition to the English speaking world in the 1840s.

I am unable to identify the tree in this engraving, though I suspect it is a species of spruce. The fir remains the classic Christmas tree because the flat configuration of its needles gives the tree a tender appearance and touch.

The spruce is a close second. Just before Christmas in 2011, my father sent me the following photo he took of two fledgling wrens perched on a Colorado Blue Spruce. I still look at it every year at this time. Like spruce or fir tree, the image never loses its freshness.

Dr. McCullough and I hope this message reaches you surrounded by friends and family and feeling a rejuvenated sense of hope and optimism.

Merry Christmas!