The Christmas tree is currently one of the decorative elements that are essential for the Christmas holidaysThis is the case in Spain, and it seems unthinkable that it is not present in homes or in the main squares of towns and villages, but it is a relatively recent tradition, introduced in the 19th century by a Russian princess.
Its history is not completely known and many people do not know who introduced the Christmas tree in Spain and that a foreign tradition is imported, which shows that the fact that festivals like Halloween or eating panettone is not something that strays from what happened centuries ago, when what nobles or royalty did was copied.
Sofía Troubetzkoy, the Russian princess who planted the first Christmas tree in Spain
Before the middle of the 19th century, the Christmas tree was not placed in homes in Spain during the Christmas holidays and it was a tradition that was followed in countries like Germany or Russia, and it was precisely a Russian princess who introduced it to the country. Sofia Troubetzkoywhich has an interesting story behind it.
Born in March 1838 in Russia, she was the daughter of Prince Sergei Vasilyevich Trubetzkoyeven if it claimed to be that of the tsar Nicholas Ias she claimed that she had been conceived during her father’s long journey to the Caucasus, and a fact which was also heavily speculated when, after the death of her parents, she was raised by the Tsarina Charlotte, widow of Nicholas Iand by the then tsar Alexander II.
Thus, Sofia Troubetzkoy grew up in the Russian imperial court until 1856, when she married the French ambassador to Saint Petersburg, Charles Auguste de Mornywho was the brother of the French emperor on his mother’s side Napoleon IIImarried to Spanish noblewoman Eugenie de Montijo. With Morny, she had four children, one of whom was Mathilde de Mornylover of the writer Colette and who was one of the most fascinating and best-known characters of the Belle Époque.
This is how the Christmas tree arrived in Spain
But everything will change with the death of her husband. In 1868, she learned that her late husband had been unfaithful to her and decided not to cry anymore. That’s when he appeared in her life José Osorio y SilvaDuke of Sesto, four times great of Spain and who was mayor of Madrid between 1856 and 1865. They both married in Vitoria and settled in Alcañices Palace of the capital, now disappeared and replaced by the Bank of Spain.
It was in this residence that Sofia Troubetzkoy installed in 1870 what is considered the first Christmas tree in Spain, a tradition that she brought to the country from Russia, and which was followed by the great influence she had on society, known for her beauty and good taste, although she did not stop at that only.
The Russian princess played an important role in the restoration of the Bourbons in Alfonso XIIwho had been mentored by her husband and to whom the so-called “Mantilla Rebellion” is attributed, during which a group of Spanish nobles wore a mantilla bearing a fleur-de-lys, the emblem of the Bourbons, to receive the Queen Mary Victoriawife of Amadeus Iwho has just arrived in Madrid.
The role of Sofia Troubetzkoy in the introduction of the Christmas tree tradition is not strange, since in the middle of the 19th century something similar happened in the United Kingdom, which imported this decorative element from Germany in Queen Charlottebut also for the prince alberthusband of Queen Victoria, who was responsible for popularizing it by always sending the family’s congratulations which appeared next to the tree.
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