More History of the christmas tree Let's begin with the christian date of christmas, whose central symbol is the christmas tree. High - probably christmas was dated on the 25th of december during the 4th century in Rome: In order to succesfully spread Christ'ianity, there was the neccessity to find defined and standardized dates for the religious holidays. Because The Bible doesn't tell an exact date of the birth of Christ, afitting date must be found. In The Roman empire, there was the wide - spread pre - christian religion of Mithras, in whose center, the "solinvictus", the invincible sun was standing: The main holiday of this pagan religion was celebreated on 25th of december, when big fires were burned for the honor of the "victorious sun". The Fathers of the Church probably guessed the customs + tradition of the prechristian religion not to be extinguished so easily. So they dated, strategiually skillfuly the second important holiday of Christianity on december 25th: Because the appearance of Christ on Earth inherents the light spreading into darkness, both religions, Christianity and Mithras CuH were very able to become combined. Not only the Romans,but other cultures in Europe celebrated the solstice as the cosmic turning point of the year already long before christianizing. Because solstice is a phenomenon which can be expertenced all over the world, the celebration of it could appear several colorful kinds - independent from common ideology like Christianity, wich has to be spread by means of word and write : So christian reporters outrageous describe the new christian christmas celebration as being celebrated as mad and boisterous as the winter solstice was, before the christian mission finally imposed its - often stiff - will onit by stipulating a devotious celebration of contemplation : "Silent night, holy night"..." But it seems comprehendable, than the return of the sun was a cause of parades, dances and big joy, because it had an existential meaning for mankind: The own survivou was dependant from the sun bringing light and warmth to let the seed germinate and bring new food - a situation wehave to recall nowadays in the times of international food and resource trade. One custom of Midwinter time was to take a "Winter May" into your house, often this was a branch from a fruit - tree, brought to blossom or the "green branch", which promises shelter and fertility. But because it was not always possible to make the fruit - branches blossom just on time, the "green branch" asserted itself. This one turned into a standing, decorated "Winter May" as a common tradition in the 16th century. That form of "Winter Mays" was the direct ancestor of the "christmas tree". Not until the 18th century, the origin pre - christian tradition was changed, after many tries to forbid the pagan traditions failed: the faith in the blessing power of the christmas tree (Winter May) was too strong... The origin of the christmas tree has 4 theoretic possibilitics: The customs are from pre - christian native celebrations. It's a christian tradition. It's a pre - Christian Roman tradition. It's a New - created, channged or combined tradition. The Celebration of the birth of Christ came to the Tevtons being a finished celebration. The church celebration has been connected to the Roman tradition, which made it really popular, long ago. On Tevtonic ground, this celebration turned into the main celebration of the year, the tradition connected to it wasn't part of the christian celebration, but is descended from the native Midwinter celebration. Our christmas tree, the direct successor of the "Winter Mays" is probably part of this pagan tradition. The "typical" christmas customs are probably changed native customs or fusions with these. The striking similarity between pagan - roman and pagan - tevtonic customs are not caused by - as has been thought for long - borrowing, but by Ur - relationship: In almost every culture, there are some kinds of tree cult and tree worshipping, just as observations of cosmic events and the resulting sun and light worshipping. Since the medieval times, branches of deciduous trees were put into the room in order to blossom on Christmas. They have been replaced by evergreen plants like hollies, pines, spruces or bayleaves. In the 17th century, there were news from Silesia and from Alsace of trees, decorated with fruits, bread, cakes and pastries or with burning candles. Thanks for this essay to our friends, the family Heimhard.   The Christmas tree theme in music and literature The symbolism of the Christmas tree and its decoration back