Christmas is a very traditional part of the winter season. Of course not all celebrate it and not all who celebrate it are religious. However, one very recognisable and central part of Christmas is, of course, the Christmas tree! The Christmas tree has existed for many centuries and with it has brought much warmth and hope to peoples hearts as for some it may be a hard and lonely time. I am sure that if you have a Christmas tree in your home it is lavished with decorations, colour and bright lights. Under the tree is, of course, filled with presents and cards! But where and when did the tradition of the Christmas tree begin? Many people might say that it started in the 1840s when Prince Albert came over to Britain from Germany. In fact, one of the earliest records of a decorated Christmas tree was in Tallinn (Estonia) in the early 1440s! New York City holds some of the most famous Christmas trees, since the 1930s the beautiful decorations have filled Rockefeller Centre in Manhattan. Some people believe that this goes back to ancient tree worship as it is very old and some people believe decorating trees is “un-ecological” or “wasteful”. However, the tree has lived as a tradition to this very day! Different traditions have crept in over these centuries too, such as; fake trees or placing an angel or a star at the top which can represent different things for different people (often the star represents the Star of David and the angel represents the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Christ). I hope that all of the readers have had a lovely and wishful Christmas and have prosperous New Year!
