How the Christmas Tree Became a Tradition
From candlelit trees in Germany to a royal engraving and the first electric lights, here's how the Christmas tree conquered the world.
Decorating an evergreen tree is now one of the most recognizable Christmas traditions in the world. It took several centuries, a royal family and an inventor's assistant to get there.
Evergreens in winter
Long before Christmas, people in many cultures brought evergreen branches indoors in the depths of winter, as a reminder that green and growing things would return. The Christmas tree as we know it took shape in Germany around the 16th century, when families began bringing whole trees into their homes and decorating them with apples, nuts and paper decorations. A popular legend says the reformer Martin Luther was the first to add candles, inspired by stars shining through the branches, though there's no firm evidence for the story.
A royal picture changes everything
German immigrants brought the custom to Britain and America, but it became a craze thanks to one picture. In 1848, the Illustrated London News published an engraving of Queen Victoria, her German-born husband Prince Albert and their children gathered around a decorated tree at Windsor Castle. Families across Britain copied the royal tree, and when an American magazine reprinted the image in 1850 (with the queen's crown removed), the trend took off in the United States too.
Electric lights
Candles on trees were beautiful but risky. In 1882, Edward H. Johnson, a business partner of Thomas Edison, lit a tree in his New York home with 80 small red, white and blue electric bulbs. Electric tree lights were expensive at first, but by the 20th century they had replaced candles in most homes.
Famous trees
- Rockefeller Center, New York: construction workers put up a small tree on the site in 1931, during the Great Depression. The official tree lighting began in 1933 and is now watched by millions.
- The National Christmas Tree, Washington, D.C.: President Calvin Coolidge lit the first one in 1923.
- Trafalgar Square, London: since 1947, Norway has sent a tree each year to thank Britain for its support during World War II.
How many days until you can turn on your tree lights? Check our Christmas countdown, then take the Christmas trivia quiz.