With the first Sunday of Advent, tradition marks it as the day on which the Decoration takes place Christmas They are starting to be placed in homes, although cities, for example, are increasingly getting ahead when it comes to putting on Christmas lights. Among the permanent elements, the Christmas tree stands out, which is of particular importance and whose origin is not well known.
The Christmas Tree: The pagan tradition that adopted and transformed Christianity
he Christmas tree It is another example of Christian traditions arising from pagan rituals that were adopted because they were ingrained in society and could not be removed as easily as they thought. This ancient custom dates back to Babylon, where the tree was seen as a sacred element and connection to nature.
Although it is in Ancient Rome As it is customary to decorate the streets during festivals such as Saturnalia, the Christmas tree is taken directly from the Celtic tradition that was responsible for decorating oak trees with candles and fruits during the winter solstice, something that was taken as a kind of “revitalization” of the vegetation to ensure its return and the sun. The Celts and other pagan tribes viewed the tree as a symbol of fertility.
It was in eighth-century Germany when Christians adapted the Celtic tradition, according to the story he explained Encyclopedia Britannicawhich has an English missionary, Saint BonifaceThe protagonist is also named in a German village Geismarat the moment Fritzlarin the area Hess (Its capital is Frankfurt).
Boniface saw how a group of people prepared an acorn sacrifice dedicated to the god bullHe devised a way to transform these pagan customs into something Christian, as another form of Christianization in this region. Thus, to this end, he presented a cypress tree he had cut down as a “tree of peace” representing “eternal life because its leaves are always green, and its crown points to heaven.”
Thus the origin of the Christmas tree lies in GermanyIn the eighth century, Martin Luther is considered the first to place decorations on this sacred element, according to a copy of the National Register of Scotland, in 1536, an idea that was conveyed by various inscriptions and painted scenes representing it.
The Christmas tree tradition arrives in Spain
The origin of the establishment of this Christmas tree in cities is an honor that is debated between two capitals of the Baltic countries such as Tallinnin Estonia, or Riga In Latvia, they are both considered the first to plant this ornament in a public square. While the former is supposed to have done so in 1441, the latter was founded in 1510.
The German custom gradually moved to different countries, including England, where it was founded by a German princess, or the United States, where it arrived as another element brought by European immigrants. It did not reach Spain until 1870, and it is believed that a Russian princess was the culprit.
Sofia TrubetzkoyShe was considered the illegitimate daughter of the Russian Tsar Nicholas I, and was married to a Spanish nobleman. Marquis Alcanisesone of the key figures in the Bourbon Restoration during the reign of Alfonso XII, was the one who placed the first Christmas tree in Spain on Alcalá Street, near the Plaza de Cibeles.