historysquee:A Brief History of Christmas TreesThe Christmas tree has a long history. It can be seen
historysquee:A Brief History of Christmas TreesThe Christmas tree has a long history. It can be seen to originate from pre-Christian times, when trees were often worshipped. These customs survived in some areas like Scandinavia, where the tree continued to be used to decorate the house at New Year. The modern Christmas tree can be seen to have come from the Renaissance period in Germany, where trees were used in the Christmas period. The first recorded use of a tree for Christmas was in Latvia and Estonia, which at the time were combined as Livonia, in guild halls in 1441. This trend was repeated in 1442, 1510 and 1514. These trees were small and decorated with nuts, berries, paper flowers and apples. This then slowly spread to the upper class Protestant homes, becoming more popular by the 18th Century. The tradition did not begin to spread until the 19th Century, with expensive wax candles being placed on the trees. It was during this time that it was spread across the nobility of Europe, and even reached Russia.In Britain, the Christmas tree was introduced by George III’s wife, Queen Caroline. However it did not become popular beyond the royal family until later. Queen Victoria grew up with a Christmas tree in her home, which the presents were placed under. The idea that Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to Britain is therefore not true, however they did become more popular around the time he married Queen Victoria and he was a big fan of the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree has since evolved to include plastic trees, with baubles, bows and chocolates, with the safer fairy lights instead of candles. -- source link