A traditional Christmas tree needs the right decorations. The term ‘putzen’ has become naturalised for decorating. The origin of the word here is the Early New High German ‘butzen’ for ‘to decorate’.
Today, a Christmas tree can be decorated with a wide variety of colours and objects. There are even special tree decorations for anglers and ballet dancers. What is typically used to decorate the tree?
Christmas baubles
Even the first Christmas trees were decorated - usually with food such as apples or nuts, dates or pretzels are also documented from as early as the 16th century.
From the 18th century onwards, real foodstuffs were gradually replaced by imitations - starting with fruit. Baked Christmas tree decorations in the form of gingerbread are frequently used. The first glass Christmas tree baubles were produced in Germany in 1847 and this trend spread to the United States in the 1870s. The coloured glass baubles were invented in Lauscha in Thuringia - as a substitute for the fruit that the local glassblowers could not afford. The fruit was already regarded as a symbol of the return of spring after winter - so it is not surprising that red baubles (symbolising red apples) are part of the traditional range. The German chemist Justus von Liebig later developed a process for silver-plating the baubles from the inside.
As a handmade product, German Christmas baubles were an export hit until the two world wars. Today, the baubles are increasingly produced in Asia, some of them in plastic. The American entrepreneur Frank Winfield Woolworth is said to have invented a Christmas pickle as an advertising gag in 1890, which was hung in the Christmas tree as a search game. The child who found it would receive an extra Christmas present. This German tradition is fake and has never existed. Nevertheless, you can buy such cucumbers as tree decorations today. Legend has it that the custom originates from a German emigrant from the Kingdom of Bavaria called John C. Lower (Hans Lauer). He was saved from starvation by a gherkin during his time as a prisoner of war in the American Civil War and hung a glass gherkin in his Christmas tree every year in gratitude. In fact, 91% of Germans do not recognise this tradition and only 2% hang a pickle in their tree nowadays.
Fairy lights/candles
Christmas trees were originally unlit. In the 17th century, aristocratic families began the custom of lighting the tree with candles. The trendsetter here was Dorothee of Silesia (Duchess of Silesia), who first used candles to decorate the tree in 1611. The bourgeoisie adopted this tradition. However, beeswax candles were very expensive, so tallow was often used as fuel. It was only with the invention of stearin and paraffin candles that tree decorations became more affordable.
The candle holder was not patented until 1867, before that the candles had to be attached directly to the branches with hot wax. The triumphant advance of electric Christmas tree candles (and later fairy lights) began in 1901 when the General Electric Company advertised the first electric Christmas tree candles. The first electrically illuminated Christmas tree was already up in the United States in 1882.
For safety reasons, electric lighting became established after the Second World War and today it is impossible to imagine Christmas decorations without it.
Angels
According to the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to Mary (Luke 1:31-38) and the heavenly choirs also play an important role in announcing the birth on Christmas night. It is therefore quite fitting that angels (usually as wooden figures) hang on the Christmas tree. Other wooden figures are also common - shepherds, toys such as rocking horses or ornaments.
Tinsel
Tinsel is thin, silvery stanniol threads that were developed as a novelty in Nuremberg in 1878. As a Christmas tree decoration, tinsel is intended to resemble icicles and was therefore originally produced exclusively in silver colour. Gold tinsel also appeared at the end of the 20th century. Tin foil is a lead/tin alloy, which is why aluminium-coated plastic strips are often used today for environmental reasons.
Straw stars / straw figures
Straw stars create a symbolic link to the straw in the manger on which the newborn baby Jesus lay. They also refer to the star that is said to have led the three kings to the manger in Bethlehem.
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