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Christmas Tree Ornaments

	Have you ever been caught in a string of lights and standing over broken glass Christmas ornament, and wondered why and how it came to pass that trees are decorated for Christmas? The history of Christmas tree decorations actually has its root in Christo-Pagan and Druidic rituals. Fir trees were not originally an element of the celebration of the Messiah’s birth. During the part of history when those who worshipped nature and danced about trees for the Winter Solstice celebration practiced a dual faith with Christianity, the traditions started to cross over. An often-performed drama in the Middle Ages portrayed Adam and Eve’s being cast out of the Garden of Eden The play centered around the Tree of Everlasting Life. Some historians believe that this play may have had some influence on the beginning of decorating trees with fruit.

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Set of 4 Ornaments
67mm Each

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5 x 3 x 2 inches

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3.25 x 8 x 2.5 inches

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Home > Christmas Decorations > Tree Ornaments

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Sometime in the 1500s, Germans began decorating fir trees at Christmas with organic items, such as apples and roses. To this day, candles are often used to decorate Christmas trees and homes in Germany.

A tree that is decorated entirely with apples stands as a visual reminder of the gift that Eden was meant to be. Five centuries since the first apple was placed on a fir tree in Germany, many households in the United States and many other countries still decorate Christmas trees and their homes with apple ornaments.

Legend has it that Martin Luther, the Protestant religious reformist, was so inspired by starlight that he put candles on a fir tree at Christmas, and thus inspired generations of those who also adhered to his religious beliefs to carry on this tradition, which had originated in Germany.

Years later, when Prince Albert wed the English Queen Victoria, the tradition of decorating Christmas trees spread from Germany, Albert’s homeland, to England.

Just as Queen Victoria had popularized the white wedding dress, she and her family’s German tradition of decoration of a fir tree at Christmastime was introduced to Victorian England. Although this was not the first time the British had seen the tradition, it took a popular queen for it to really catch on.

By the end of the 1800s, the tradition of hanging decorations on Christmas trees had traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, to the East Coast of the United States of America. The Christmas tree decorating traditions likely landed most densely in Pennsylvania, the state which experienced the largest influx of pioneering Germans during that time period.

“Be-appled” fir trees, however, are not the only Christmas decoration that has become an enduring tradition. It is common, since Christmas traditions all center on celebration of the birth of the Christ child, for Protestants to include a Nativity scene in their holiday décor. The nativity set is also known as a crèche. The story of Christ’s birth and the coming of the Shepherds and the Wise Men can be found in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Christmas decorations have come to include such things as candy canes, which are really convenient for hanging, but whose symbolism for the blood and purity of Christ, and the letter “J” for Jesus was likely conceived as a marketing ploy.

The tradition of decorating trees has evolved over half a millennium, and it is likely that there will be other developments as time goes by.

The traditions of decorating the Christmas tree – from what day it is done to who hangs which ornament – are infinitely varied. Your family will create many of their own tree traditions…just as soon as you can figure out how to get out of all those lights.