The Origins of Some Christmas
Traditions
John Miller
Christmas is a
time of year many people love and
enjoy. Christmas lights cover the
trees and decorations stung on the
windows and shelves inside the house.
Many thousands of people flock to the
stores to get gifts for family
members, and shopping for those last
minute deals.
Most Americans
know why we celebrate Christmas (Weihnachten),
but do we know where the traditions
came from? Several of the traditions
and songs come from the Dutch specking
world around Germany. German and
Austrian Christmas traditions have
spread throughout the world wherever
Christmas is celebrated. As time
passed by millions of people around
the world have adopted many traditions
that began in the German-speaking
world.
The Christmas
tree (Tannenbaum pronounced in German)
believed to have begun in Germany
around the mid 700’s. The tree
represented the life of Jesus Christ
and how he lives on today. The ever
greens which represent his life was
decorated with candles and then
brought inside. The German trees are
silver fir and balsam with their
branches spaced far apart and grown in
such a way that the candles can be
placed on them without the danger of a
fire. These trees were called "Christ
Tree" until the holiday was renamed
Christmas then the Christmas tree was
born.
The Christmas
tree tradition began by Martin Luther
who lived in Germany. He was a monk
and church reformer who was born in
1483 and died in 1546. How this
tradition began according to legend,
Luther was returning home on a
winter’s night when he saw the stars
twinkling in the sky through the
branches of the trees. He was so
amazed by the sight he saw. When he
arrived home, he was eager to tell his
family about what he saw. To help them
understand and to better visualize
what he had seen, Luther went to the
woods and cut down a small fir tree.
He then brought the tree inside and
decorated it with candles, which
represented the stars he had seen.
This custom spread throughout Germany,
and all over the world. This tradition
grew into America and now people light
their Christmas trees with much more
than candles, but with lights,
garland, and other decorations.
The first
Christmas tree came to England, when
Queen Victoria married Prince Albert,
who was a German. In 1841, Albert sat
up a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle
near London to remind him of his home
in Germany. He had servants trim the
tree with candies, sugared fruits and
tiny wrapped gifts. This began the
Victorians love of Christmas
decorating. Immigrants brought the
Christmas tree tradition to the United
States from England as well as many
German immigrants who came in the
1800's.
Why do we
celebrate Christmas Eve and how the
colors red and Green associate with
Christmas? In Germany, traditions
would teach the Christmas story of the
Bible, by acting out what Germans
called "miracle plays". These were
plays to teach children about the
Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve. The
tradition took place yearly on
December 24. They would decorate
evergreens with red apples to
represent the forbidden fruit.
Most
traditional Christmas songs you hear
today and known as a child came from
Germany and Austria. Songs such as
"Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht"), "Oh
Christmas Tree" ("O Tannenbaum") and
the famous song known as the "Twelve
Days to Christmas". In the
German-speaking countries the
Christmas tree was part of the
pre-Christian tradition of the "12
Rauhnächte". This song tells the story
of 12 harsh or crazy nights, and
eventually became the "Twelve Nights
of Christmas." The Christmas tree was
decorated on December 24 and taken
down after New Years or on January 6,
known as "Twelfth Night." The part of
the tradition of taking down the
Christmas tree was known as the "Plündern,"
raiding the tree of cookies and sugar
plums, an event, awaited by children.
January 6 is also known as "Three
Kings." On that evening carolers,
three of them dressed as the three
kings or Magi, stroll from house to
house. In some areas the old trees
will be brought to a public place and
burnt in a big bon-fire.
Where does
story of Santa Claus come from? The
Dutch settlers from New Amsterdam
brought the story of Santa to
American. The stories about Santa
climbing down the chimney and the
tradition of if you're naughty, he'll
leave a switch (coal) instead of toys
come from the Dutch. Santa brings
gifts on the night of Christmas Eve to
all of the good children. Our version
of Santa Claus came from the European
traditions regarding St. Nicholas. In
the 4th century, Nicholas, a bishop in
Turkey came to be known as St.
Nicholas for his kind deeds to the
needy and enslaved. The term of Saint
Nick and the legend that followed was
born. His bright red suit trimmed with
white fur originated from the cape of
St. Nichols. During the 19th century
Santa begin to be quite popular and
made appearances in the stories of
Washington Irving.
In 1809 Irving
wrote a story that resulted in
changing the traditional Dutch custom.
Their tradition was on December 14, or
St. Nicholas Eve as they called it;
the Dutch would leave shoes out for
St. Nicholas. In Irving's story he
wrote about the children leaving
stockings hanging out instead or
shoes. At that time children believed
Santa traveled by wagon with the
assistance of a magic white horse. Up
until 1821, Irving's book, "The
Children's Friend" had Santa traveling
by sleigh pulled by reindeer that
eventually flew in the air.
In 1822
Clement Moore wrote "A Visit from
Saint Nicholas" inspiring Thomas Nast
to draw the famous cartoon of Santa
published in Harper's Weekly. Several
famous painting of Santa Claus that we
can still see was drawn in Germany.
The legend of Santa Claus by this time
had traveled all around the world. The
English knew Santa as Father Christmas
and the Germans knew him as Kris
Kringle. America would know every name
for Santa Claus by hearing and sharing
these traditional stories. Even
watching the old Rudolph stories on
T.V. you can see the German influence
by listening to the names of "Burger
Mister" and looking at the soldiers’
uniforms. They are wearing a
Waffenfrock that is a military tunic
from the pre World War One period
along with a spiked helmet known as
the Pickelhauben.
The idea of
gift giving goes back to the birth
Christ, when Three Wise Men entered
the stable and laid gifts before the
child. Down through the ages mankind
has enjoyed giving at Christmas,
whether it is a personal gift or
spiritual.
Christmas has
a special meaning to us all. It even
stopped World War One in 1914 with the
Christmas truce. On December 24, 1914,
the British soldiers heard the sounds
of music coming from the German
trenches. During the night both sides
were singing the same carol in
different languages. The next day a
lone German soldier came out of the
trench holding a branch of Pine with
candles lit. The British were stunned
at what they saw. Most of the British
soldiers had never seen a Christmas
tree before.
The truce
started to spread over the lines in
other places. That day most of the two
armies talked and played games of
soccer. Some soldiers of each side
even tried to get a close glimpse of
the lay out of their opponents’ trench
to mark where the gun emplacements
were. However the British authorities
of the high command thought that this
was outrageous and demanded that
action should be taken to punish their
soldiers for fraternizing with the
enemy. Both Germans and the British
saw for the first time that there
living conditions were in deed the
same and that they were all men.
However the fighting did occur that
day in other places along the
trenches. The sprit of Christmas
managed to stop some of the bloodshed
and to ease each other while they were
away from home.
Today, those
who are wrapped up in the holiday
cheer may forget the origins and the
meaning of Christmas. Most people have
forgotten the origins and how
Christmas became known. So when you go
to the store and see leftover
Christmas items, you’ll know where
they came from and how your family
began this holiday celebration. It is
truly the time of year for us to
forget our problems and help the other
person. If the Germans could stop the
bloody onslaught of World War One for
a day or two by celebrating this time
of year with its enemy, we can do the
same thing and help our neighbor.
Read other stories by John Miller
Related articles worth reading:
Have your own memories of
the old Emmitsburg traditions?
If so, send them to us at history@emmitsburg.net
|