Christmas tree facts for kids
The Christmas tree is a special tradition linked to celebrating Christmas. It's usually an evergreen pine or fir tree that people bring into their homes. They decorate it with bright Christmas lights and colorful ornaments around Christmas time. Often, an angel or a star is placed at the very top of the tree. Sometimes, trees outside homes are decorated in the same way.
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Where Did the Modern Christmas Tree Come From?
Modern Christmas trees first appeared during the Renaissance in early modern Germany. People often connect its beginnings in the 1500s to Martin Luther, a famous Protestant Christian leader. It's said that he was the first to add lit candles to an evergreen tree.
The oldest known picture of a Christmas tree that has a clear date is from 1576. You can find it on a stone carving in a private home in Turckheim, Alsace. At that time, Alsace was part of Germany, but today it is in France.
Many people believe that ancient Romans used to decorate their homes with evergreen trees. They did this to celebrate Saturnalia, an old festival. However, there are no clear historical records to prove this.
The Vikings and Saxons, who lived long ago, used to worship trees. There's a story about Saint Boniface cutting down a tree called Donar's Oak. This story shows how Germans practiced pagan traditions in the 700s. A later version of the story adds that an evergreen tree grew where the oak had been. It is said that this tree's triangular shape reminds people of the Trinity and points towards heaven.
What Kinds of Trees Are Used?
Both real and artificial trees are used as Christmas trees today.
Some real trees are sold with their roots and soil still attached. These often come from a plant nursery. People can plant them outdoors later. They can then enjoy (and often decorate) these trees for many years.
Artificial trees have become very popular. Many people find them more convenient. If you use them for several years, they can also be cheaper than buying a new real tree each time. These trees come in many colors and look like different "species" of trees. Some even come with lights already on them. After Christmas, artificial trees can be taken apart and stored easily.
The first artificial trees that weren't green were shiny metallic trees. They were introduced around 1958 and were quite popular in the 1960s.
Other artificial trees might not look like a pine or fir tree at all. They just have a triangular or cone shape. These can be made from cardboard, glass, plastic, or even stacked items like ornaments. Such trees are often used as small decorations on tables.
Images for kids
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Christmas Tree decorated with ribbons, stars and glass balls
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Glade jul by Viggo Johansen (1891)
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Family decorating Christmas tree (ca. 1970s)
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Martin Luther is depicted with his family and friends in front of a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve
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The hanging of a podłaźniczka is an old Polish folk custom dating back to pagan traditions.
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German Christmas tree, book illustration 1888
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An engraving published in the 1840s of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert created a craze for Christmas trees.
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Decorated Chichilaki at the Orbeliani Palace
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General and Mrs. Riedesel celebrating Christmas.
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An early example of public Christmas tree for the children of unemployed parents in Prague (Czech Republic), 1931
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Adding decorations to tree
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Christmas ornaments at the Christmas market, Strasbourg
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A large scale Christmas tree farm in the United States
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Undecorated Christmas trees for sale
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Baling a tree
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A grower in Waterloo, Nova Scotia, prunes balsam fir trees in October. The tree must experience three frosts to stabilize the needles before cutting.
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Trees on sale at a Christmas market in Vienna, painting by Carl Wenzel Zajicek (1908)
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An artificial Christmas tree
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Christmas tree recycling point (point recyclage de sapins)
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Woodchipping Christmas trees
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St Boniface felling the Donar Oaktree
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Copy of an 1848 engraving of the British royal family with their tree, modified and widely published in American magazine Godey's Lady's Book, 1850.
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First published image of a Christmas tree, frontispiece to Hermann Bokum's 1836 The Stranger's Gift
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The Christmas tree by Winslow Homer, 1858
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Christmas in the Netherlands, c. 1899
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Illustration for Harper's Bazaar, published 1 January 1870
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Christmas tree depicted as Christmas card by Prang & Co. (Boston) 1880
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Vera Komissarzhevskaya as Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House (c. 1904). Photo by Elena Mrozovskaya.
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An Italian-American family on Christmas, 1924
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A Christmas tree from 1951, in a home in New York state
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Christmas tree with presents
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Christmas Tree in the cozy room at the Wisconsin Governor's mansion.
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A Soviet-era (1960s) New Year tree decoration depicting a cosmonaut
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Christmas Trees in church
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A chrismon tree (St. Alban's Anglican Cathedral, Oviedo, Florida)
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Christmas tree in Piazza del Duomo to Milan in 2019.
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Christmas tree in Vatican City, 2007
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Christmas tree in Salerno old town, Italy, 2008.
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Christmas tree on Minin and Pozharsky Square, 2018. Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
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Christmas tree and Metropolitan Cathedral at Mexico's City zócalo
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A large Christmas tree front of the Turku Cathedral in Turku (Finland), 2009
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Christmas tree on the Römerberg in Frankfurt (2008)
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in Lisbon (2005), at 75 metres (246 feet) the tallest Christmas tree in Europe.
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An Árbol navideño luminoso in Madrid (2011)
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Christmas tree in Warsaw
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Christmas tree in Stockholm at the NK department store
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Christmas trees in Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, Hong Kong
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Christmas tree in Lugano (2018)
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Christmas tree in Bethlehem, behind it Church of the Nativity, 2014
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A tree with fibre optic lights
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White Christmas tree
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Spanish artificial Christmas tree
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An artificial Aluminum Christmas tree
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Artificial tree
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See also
In Spanish: Árbol de Navidad para niños
