Written by Kim Kokernot
Along with Christmas lights, festive Christmas trees are everywhere on campus. From dorm room lobbies to the Education Resource Center, these trees are a symbol of the season. But where did the tradition come from?Below are some interesting facts about Christmas tree history.
- In the 7th century, a monk from Crediton, Devonshire went to Germany. Legend tells that he used the triangular shape of the Fir Tree to describe the Holy Trinity. By the 12th century, it was being hung, upside-down, from ceilings in Central Europe to represent Christianity at Christmastime.
- The first decorated tree was in 1510 at Riga in Latvia.
- In the 16th century, Martin Luther is credited with creating the first lighted tree. He decorated a small tree with candles to show his children how the stars twinkled in the night sky.
- Tinsel was invented in Germany in 1610, where real silver was pulled into wafer thin strips and hung on trees.
- The fashionable Queen Victoria helped popularize Christmas trees in 1846, when an illustration of the Queen, Price Albert and their children standing around a Christmas tree was published in the Illustrated London News.
- Decorations were once homemade, and some had patches sewn onto them for secret gifts.
