The centuries-old history of the New Year tree (11 photos). The history of the Christmas tree The tradition of celebrating the New Year with a tree history
The Christmas tree has long been considered a symbol of Christmas and New Year. But how did she become one?
In the New Testament there is no mention of a tree being decorated to celebrate the Nativity of Christ. There is a mention that at the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, people greeted him with palm branches. The palm tree in Christianity was a symbol of victory over death. In Hawaii, the palm tree is still used as a Christmas tree. And in the USA (Florida) the Christmas palm tree is grown. It got its name because its bright red fruits ripen just in time for December.
The first mention of the Christmas tree is found in the ancient German legend of St. Boniface. To prove the superiority of Christianity, he wanted to demonstrate the powerlessness of the pagan gods and cut down the sacred Tree of Odin (Thor), saying: “The fir of Christianity will grow on the roots of the felled oak of paganism.” A fir tree sprouted from a stump as a symbol of Christianity...
In Livonia (the territory of modern Estonia) in the 15th century, the Brotherhood of the Blackheads erected a large Christmas tree on the main square of Rivel (modern Tallinn), and residents held festivities and dances around it.
The 16th-century Bremen Chronicle describes decorating Christmas trees with “paper flowers, pretzels, dates, nuts and apples” at Christmas.
In Germany, there was an ancient custom of decorating a Christmas tree in the forest with rags and wax candles; various rituals were held near such a tree. The spruce was identified with the world tree, and the tradition of decorating Christmas trees was common. Later, trees began to be installed in the house.
As the population of Germany became baptized, many rituals and customs began to be filled with Christian content. This also affected the custom of decorating Christmas trees to coincide with Christmas. The Christmas tree officially became a Christmas tree and was also called the “Claus tree.”
There is very little documentary evidence left of those times. Disputes about the “first Christmas tree in Europe” even led to a diplomatic conflict between Tallinn and Riga.
However, the first "official" Christmas tree is attributed to Martin Luther, who installed a tree in his home on Christmas Day. Luther saw it as a symbol of the Tree of Life in Eden.
New Year tree in Russia.
In Russia, the first mentions of New Year trees date back to the time of Peter I. In his decree on moving the New Year from September 1 to January 1, “following the example of all Christian peoples,” he was ordered to launch rockets, light lights and decorate the capital with pine needles: “In large numbers streets, near elaborate houses, in front of the gates, place some decorations from trees and branches of pine, spruce and cerebellum, against the samples that were made at Gostiny Dvor.” And “poor people” were asked to “put at least a tree or branch on each of their gates or over their temple... and stand for that decoration of January on the first day.”
Decorations made from pine needles were prescribed to be installed not indoors, but outside - on gates, roofs of taverns, streets and roads. Thus, the tree turned into a detail of the New Year's city landscape, and not of the Christmas interior, which it later became.
After Peter's death, the custom was forgotten for a long time. Only taverns were still decorated with Christmas trees. Drinking establishments were identified by these trees. Christmas trees decorated roofs or gates all year round, only in December old trees were replaced with new ones. Taverns even began to be called “Yolki” or “Yolkin Ivans”.
In the 19th century, the first Christmas trees appeared in St. Petersburg, in the houses of the Germans who lived there.
The first official Christmas tree in Russia was organized by Nicholas I at the request of his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, née Princess Charlotte of Prussia. On December 24, 1817, on her initiative, a home Christmas tree was installed in the private chambers of the imperial family in Moscow, and in 1818 - in the Anichkov Palace.
At Christmas 1828, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna arranged a “children’s Christmas tree” for her five children and nieces in the Great Dining Room of the palace. The children of some of the courtiers were also present at the celebration. On the tables were Christmas trees decorated with gilded apples, sweets and nuts. There were gifts under the Christmas trees.
Until the 1840s, the custom of putting up a Christmas tree was not widespread in Russia; palace trees were an exception. For example, neither A.S. Pushkin nor M.Yu. Lermontov mention trees in their works when describing Christmas festivities. In the mid-1840s, an explosion occurred - “German innovation” began to quickly spread throughout St. Petersburg. The entire capital was gripped by the “Christmas tree rush.” The custom became popular along with the fashion for the works of German writers and, above all, Hoffmann, whose “Christmas tree” works “The Nutcracker” and “Lord of the Fleas” were very popular in Russia at that time.
The sale of Christmas trees began in the late 1840s. They were traded by peasants near Gostiny Dvor. Subsequently, this seasonal trade belonged to Finnish peasants and gave them a considerable income, because Christmas trees were expensive.
The metropolitan nobility quickly moved away from the model of small German Christmas trees and organized competitions: who had a larger, thicker, more elegant, or richly decorated Christmas tree. In those days, they tried to decorate Christmas trees with sweets: nuts, candies, cookies, curly gingerbread cookies, fruits. After the end of the holiday, the tree decorations were taken apart for souvenirs and food. In wealthy homes, Christmas trees were often decorated with expensive decorations: earrings, rings and rings, as well as expensive fabric and ribbons.
Many thousands of years ago the year began in autumn or spring. For example, if we take Ancient Rus', then here the beginning of the year fell on the month of March, and this celebration was more like a tribute to spring, warmth, sun and a future good harvest.
The first written mention of spruce as a New Year's tree is found in the chronicle of the French province of Alsace for 1600. However, Germany is considered to be its homeland. There is a legend that the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve was started by the German reformer Martin Luther. It was he, returning home before celebrating Christmas in 1513, who was fascinated and delighted by the beauty of the stars that strewn the vault of heaven so thickly that it seemed as if the crowns of the trees were sparkling with stars. At home, he put a Christmas tree on the table and decorated it with candles, and placed a star on top in memory of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the cave where Jesus was born.
Why was spruce chosen as the New Year's tree? Let us remember that our ancestors treated trees as living beings. In Rus', such a particularly revered, cult tree was the birch. Since ancient times, the green, fragrant forest beauty spruce was considered the tree of peace by the ancient Germans. They believed that the good “spirit of the forests” lived in its branches - the defender of justice and all living things. It is no coincidence that before military battles, warriors gathered for advice at the spruce tree, hoping to receive its protection. And also because this tree personified immortality, fidelity, fearlessness, dignity, the secret of not fading, eternal youth. Over time, the custom arose to appease the good spirits that hibernate in the evergreen branches of the spruce tree by decorating its fluffy branches with gifts. This custom was born in Germany, and later the Dutch and English borrowed the rite of veneration of spruce. It is also known that in the 16th century in Central Europe on Christmas night it was customary to place a small beech tree in the middle of the table, decorated with small apples, plums, pears and hazelnuts boiled in honey.
In the second half of the 17th century, it was already common in German and Swiss houses to complement the decoration of the Christmas meal not only with deciduous trees, but also with coniferous trees. The main thing is that it is toy size. At first, small Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling along with candies and apples, and only later the custom of decorating one large Christmas tree in the guest room was established. The 18th century chose spruce as the queen of the New Year's holiday, first in Germany, and later in many European countries.
Peter the Great and the first Christmas tree
In Russia, the custom of the New Year tree dates back to the Petrine era. According to the royal decree of December 20, 1699, henceforth it was prescribed that the calendar should be calculated not from the Creation of the world, but from the Nativity of Christ, and the day of the “new year,” until that time, celebrated in Rus' on September 1, “following the example of all Christian peoples,” should be celebrated on January 1. This decree also provided recommendations for organizing the New Year's holiday. To commemorate it, on New Year’s Day, it was ordered to launch rockets, light fires and decorate the capital (then still Moscow) with pine needles: “Decorate Moscow houses with spruce and pine branches and cones, and everyone should celebrate this day with congratulations to all relatives and friends , dancing and shooting, launching rockets into the night sky.”
And the king himself, on the night of December 31 to January 1, went out onto Red Square, holding a torch in his hands, and after the chimes, he launched the first rocket into the starry skies. And this was the first fireworks in honor of the New Year holiday. As for the spruce, about 300 years ago it was believed that a Christmas tree decorated for the New Year transforms negative forces into positive ones. Today everyone has forgotten about such powers, but the wonderful and beloved tradition of decorating a coniferous tree before the holiday has remained to this day.
However, Peter’s decree had a very indirect relation to the future Christmas tree: firstly, the city was decorated not only with spruce trees, but also with other coniferous trees; secondly, the decree recommended the use of both whole trees and branches and, finally, thirdly, decorations from pine needles were ordered to be installed not indoors, but outside - on gates, roofs of taverns, streets and roads. Thus, the tree turned into a detail of the New Year's city landscape, and not of the Christmas interior, which it later became.
After Peter's death, his recommendations were completely forgotten. The royal instructions were preserved only in the decoration of drinking establishments, which continued to be decorated with Christmas trees before the New Year. Taverns were identified by these trees (tied to a stake, installed on the roofs, or stuck at the gates). The trees stood there until the next year, on the eve of which the old trees were replaced with new ones. Having arisen as a result of Peter's decree, this custom was maintained throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
Christmas Tree in the first half of the 19th century
In Russia, the Christmas tree appeared at the beginning of the 19th century in the houses of St. Petersburg Germans. In 1818, on the initiative of Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, a Christmas tree was organized in Moscow, and the next year in the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg. At Christmas 1828, Alexandra Feodorovna, by that time already an empress, organized the first “children’s Christmas tree” celebration in her own palace for her five children and nieces - the daughters of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. The Christmas tree was installed in the Great Dining Palace.
The children of some courtiers were also invited. On eight tables and on the table set for the emperor, Christmas trees were installed, decorated with sweets, gilded apples and nuts. Gifts were laid out under the trees: toys, dresses, porcelain items, etc. The hostess herself handed out gifts to all the children present. The holiday began at eight o'clock in the evening, and by nine o'clock the guests had already left. From then on, following the example of the royal family, a Christmas tree began to be installed in the houses of the highest St. Petersburg nobility. It is not yet possible to establish the exact time when the Christmas tree first appeared in a Russian home. The first Christmas tree in Russia was built by Emperor Nicholas I at the very end of the 1830s, after which, following the example of the royal family, it began to be installed in the houses of the St. Petersburg nobility. For the time being, the rest of the population of the capital either treated it indifferently or did not even know about the existence of such a custom. However, little by little the Christmas tree conquered other social strata of St. Petersburg.
And suddenly, in the mid-1840s, an explosion occurred - the “German custom” began to spread rapidly. Now St. Petersburg was literally engulfed in the “Christmas tree rush.” The custom became fashionable, and by the end of the 1840s, the Christmas tree became a well-known and familiar item in the Christmas interior in the capital. The trade in Christmas trees began in the late 1840s. They were sold at Gostiny Dvor, where peasants brought them from the surrounding forests. But if the poor could not afford to buy even the smallest Christmas tree, then the rich metropolitan nobility began to organize competitions: who had a larger, thicker, more elegant, or richly decorated Christmas tree. Real jewelry and expensive fabrics were often used as Christmas tree decorations in wealthy homes. The first mention of an artificial Christmas tree dates back to the end of the 1840s, which was considered a special chic.
By the middle of the 19th century, the German custom had become firmly established in the life of the Russian capital. The tree itself, previously known in Russia only under the German name “Weihnachtsbaum”, began to be called at first the “Christmas tree” (which is a tracing-paper from German), and later received the name “Christmas tree”, which was assigned to it forever. The holiday organized on the occasion of Christmas also began to be called a Christmas tree: “go to the Christmas tree”, “arrange a Christmas tree”, “invite to the Christmas tree”. V.I. Dal remarked on this matter: “Having adopted, through St. Petersburg, from the Germans the custom of preparing a decorated, illuminated Christmas tree for children for Christmas, we sometimes call the very day of the tree, Christmas Eve.”
Russian Christmas tree in the second half of the 19th century
The development of the Christmas tree in Russia is striking in its rapidity. Already in the middle of the century, the Christmas tree became quite common for residents of many provincial and district cities. The reason for the rapid entry of the St. Petersburg innovation into the life of the provincial city is clear: having abandoned the ancient folk custom of celebrating Christmastide, the townspeople felt a certain ritual vacuum. This vacuum was either not filled with anything, causing a feeling of disappointment due to vain holiday expectations, or was compensated by new, purely urban entertainment, including the arrangement of a Christmas tree. The Christmas tree conquered the landowner's estate with great difficulty. Here, as memoirists testify, Christmastide continued to be celebrated for many years in the old fashioned way, in compliance with folk customs.
And yet, little by little, St. Petersburg fashion began to penetrate into the estate. If until the middle of the 19th century, the arrangement of a Christmas tree was not mentioned in memoirs dedicated to Christmastide on a landowner’s estate, then after ten years the situation changed. About the Christmas holidays of 1863, Leo Tolstoy’s sister-in-law T. A. Kuzminskaya, who lived for a long time in Yasnaya Polyana and considered it her “second parental home,” recalls: “Every day we had some kind of entertainment: theater, evenings, a Christmas tree and even horseback riding triplets." Two years later, on December 14, 1865, in a letter to Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy, she says: “Here we are preparing a large Christmas tree for the first holiday and drawing different lanterns and remembering how you know how to make these things.” And further: “There was a magnificent Christmas tree with gifts and yard children. On a moonlit night - riding a troika."
At first, the presence of the Christmas tree in the house was limited to one evening. On the eve of Christmas, a spruce tree was secretly taken from the children into the best room of the house, into the hall or living room, and placed on a table covered with a white tablecloth. The adults, as A.I. Tsvetaeva recalls, “hid (the Christmas tree) from us with exactly the same passion with which we dreamed of seeing it.” Candles were attached to the branches of the tree, delicacies and decorations were hung on the tree, gifts were laid out under it, which, like the tree itself, were prepared in strict secrecy. And finally, just before the children were allowed into the hall, candles were lit on the tree. It was strictly forbidden to enter the room where the Christmas tree was installed until special permission was given. Most often, during this time, the children were taken to some other room. Therefore, they could not see what was happening in the house, but by various signs they tried to guess what was happening: they listened, looked through the keyhole or through the door crack.
When all the preparations were finally completed, a pre-arranged signal was given (“a magic bell rang”) or one of the adults or servants came to pick up the children. The doors to the hall were opened. This moment of opening, throwing open the doors is present in many memoirs, stories and poems about the Christmas tree holiday: for children it was a long-awaited and passionately desired moment of entry into the “Christmas tree space”, their connection with the magic tree. The first reaction was numbness, almost stunned. Presented to the children in all its glory, the Christmas tree decorated “in the most brilliant way” invariably evoked amazement, admiration, and delight. After the first shock passed, screams, gasps, squeals, jumping, and clapping began. At the end of the holiday, the children, brought to an extremely enthusiastic state, received the tree at their complete disposal: they tore off sweets and toys from it, destroyed, broke and completely destroyed the tree (which gave rise to the expressions “rob the tree”, “pinch the tree”, “destroy the tree”). . This is where the name of the holiday itself comes from: the holiday of “plucking the Christmas tree.” The destruction of the Christmas tree had a psychotherapeutic meaning for them as a release after a long period of stress they had experienced.
At the end of the holiday, the devastated and broken tree was taken out of the hall and thrown into the courtyard. The custom of setting up a Christmas tree for the Christmas holidays inevitably underwent changes. In those houses where funds allowed and there was enough space, already in the 1840s, instead of the traditionally small Christmas tree, a large tree began to be installed: tall, ceiling-length, Christmas trees, wide and dense, with strong and fresh needles, were especially valued. It is quite natural that tall trees could not be kept on the table, so they began to be attached to the crosspiece (to the “circles” or “legs”) and installed on the floor in the center of the hall or the largest room in the house. Having moved from the table to the floor, from the corner to the middle, the tree turned into the center of the festive celebration, giving the children the opportunity to have fun around it and dance in circles. The tree standing in the center of the room made it possible to examine it from all sides, looking for both new and old toys, familiar from previous years. You could play under the tree, hide behind it or under it. It is possible that this Christmas tree dance was borrowed from the Trinity Day ritual, the participants of which, holding hands, walked around the birch tree while singing ritual songs. The changes that took place changed the essence of the holiday: gradually it began to turn into a Christmas tree celebration for the children of friends and relatives.
At such holidays, called children's Christmas trees, in addition to the younger generation, adults were always present: parents or elders accompanying the children. Children of governesses, teachers, and servants were also invited. Over time, Christmas trees began to be held for adults, for which parents went alone, without children. The first public Christmas tree was organized in 1852 at the St. Petersburg Ekateringofsky station, erected in 1823 in the Ekateringofsky country garden. A huge spruce tree installed in the station hall “was adjacent to the wall on one side, and the other was decorated with scraps of multi-colored paper.” Following her, public Christmas trees began to be organized in noble, officer and merchant meetings, clubs, theaters and other places. Moscow did not lag behind the Neva capital: from the beginning of the 1850s, Christmas tree celebrations in the hall of the Noble Moscow Assembly also became annual.
Christmas tree in Russia at the turn of the 19th—20th centuries
By the end of the 19th century, the Christmas tree became commonplace in Russia. The preparation of Christmas trees began a week before Christmas. For foresters and peasants from suburban villages, their sale has become one of their seasonal earnings. Trees were sold in the most crowded places: near guest courtyards, squares, markets. There were Christmas trees for every taste: small ones decorated with artificial flowers, giant Christmas trees that stood proudly in all their natural beauty, and artificial tiny Christmas trees that had never seen a forest, the unnaturally bright green of which immediately caught the eye. Many shops also sold trees - greengrocers, dairy and even meat shops, where trees were displayed at the entrance, often already placed on crosses.
There was no longer any mystery in the appearance of a Christmas tree in the house for children, the observance of which was considered a prerequisite when arranging the first Christmas trees. The children enjoyed walking in the “forests” of the Christmas tree markets; watched as the Christmas tree was brought into the house; they saw her, not yet thawed out, lying in the hallway (“only after the all-night vigil they will let her in”) or in the room on the floor, warming up in the warmth of home; felt how it began to emit a pine and resinous smell.
From all over the city, and sometimes from other cities, relatives and friends, cousins and brothers came to the home Christmas trees. Adults invented and bought gifts, organized “Christmas tree fun,” played the piano, and children danced. The elders prepared for the holidays themselves, writing and staging plays “like Hoffmann and Andersen” from the life of Christmas tree decorations. At this time, the organization of charitable “Christmas trees for the poor” in people's homes and orphanages became widespread. They were organized by various kinds of societies and individual philanthropists. Having turned into the main component of the winter holidays, the tree thus entered festive life as one of its necessary components. L. N. Gumilyov, speaking bitterly that his childhood was not what it should have been, noted: “I wanted something simple: for there to be a father, for the world to have a Christmas tree, Columbus, hunting dogs, Rublev, Lermontov " The Christmas tree began to be perceived as one of the necessary elements of normal childhood.
There is an opinion that the Soviet government banned the Christmas tree immediately after the October coup. However, it is not. After seizing power, the Bolsheviks did not encroach on the Christmas tree. In 1918, M. Gorky and A. N. Benois prepared and published at the Petrograd publishing house “Parus” a luxurious gift book for children “Yolka”, designed by wonderful artists. It included works by M. Gorky, K. I. Chukovsky, V. F. Khodasevich, A. N. Tolstoy, V. Ya. Bryusov, S. Cherny and others. On the cover of the book there is a drawing of a decorated Christmas tree, around which Santa Claus and forest animals are circling in a cheerful round dance. At the top of the tree the six-pointed star of Bethlehem shines brightly.
In the first years after the revolution, no special measures were actually taken to ban the Christmas tree, and if it became extremely rare at that time, the reason for this was external circumstances that “knocked everything down and confused it.” In the first years after the Civil War, many Christmas trees were still sold in cities, as before, but the population was poor, and few could afford to buy even the smallest tree. Men from suburban villages who brought Christmas trees to the city lost their pre-Christmas earnings. On December 25, 1924, Korney Chukovsky writes: “On the third day I walked with Murka to Kolya at about 11 in the morning and was amazed: how many Christmas trees! At every corner of the most deserted streets there is a cart filled to the brim with all kinds of Christmas trees, and next to the cart there is a sad man, hopelessly looking at the rare passers-by. I got into a conversation with one. He says: “If only we could make money on salt, we can’t even dream of kerosene! Nobody has a penny; we haven’t seen oil since that Christmas...” The only mining industry is Christmas trees. They covered the whole of Leningrad with Christmas trees and reduced the price to 15 kopecks. And I noticed that they buy mostly small, proletarian Christmas trees to put on the table.” But little by little, life improved and the tree seemed to be regaining its rights. However, things were not so simple.
The first alarm bell sounded on November 16, three weeks after the October coup, when the issue of calendar reform was brought up for discussion by the Soviet government. Until the October Revolution, Russia still continued to live according to the Julian calendar, while most European countries had long ago switched to the Gregorian calendar, adopted by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The need for calendar reform and a transition to a new style has been felt since the 18th century. Already under Peter I, in international relations and in scientific correspondence, Russia was forced to use the Gregorian calendar, while inside the country life proceeded according to the old style for another two centuries. This circumstance gave rise to many inconveniences. The need to introduce a common time system with Europe was felt especially acutely in diplomatic and commercial practice. However, attempts made in the 19th century to carry out calendar reform failed: this was opposed by both the government and the Orthodox Church, who each time considered the introduction of a new calendar “untimely.” After the revolution, the question of the “untimeliness” of the reform disappeared by itself, and on January 24, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic. The decree signed by Lenin was published the next day.
Since the difference between the old and new styles by this time was 13 days, as a result of the reform, Russian Christmas shifted from December 25 to January 7, and New Year - from January 1 to the 14th. And although neither the decree nor other documents emanating from the Soviet government of that time said a word about the abolition of the Christmas holiday, nevertheless, the violation of the calendar was perceived as a disruption of life with its Orthodox holidays traditionally associated with certain dates. It was still unclear what would happen to Christmas and the Christmas tree after the calendar reform came into force.
And in 1922, a campaign was carried out to transform the holiday of the Nativity of Christ into a “Komsomol Christmas”, or otherwise into “Komsomol Christmas”. Komsomol cells were supposed to organize the celebration of “Komsomol holidays” on the first day of Christmas, that is, December 25, which was declared a non-working day. The events began with the reading of reports and speeches exposing the “economic roots” of the Christmas holidays. Then there were performances and dramatizations, political satires, and “living pictures.” On the second day of the holiday, street processions were organized, on the third, masquerades and a Christmas tree, called the “Komsomol Christmas tree,” were held in clubs. Participants in Christmas tree carnivals (mostly Komsomol propagandists) dressed up in the most unimaginable satirical costumes: the Entente, Kolchak, Denikin, kulak, NEPman, pagan gods and even a Christmas goose and piglet. Processions were held with torches and the burning of “divine images” (icons). However, such a favorable attitude of the Soviet authorities towards the Christmas tree did not last long. New changes became noticeable by the end of 1924, when Krasnaya Gazeta reported with satisfaction: “... this year it is noticeable that Christmas prejudices have almost ceased. There are almost no Christmas trees to be seen at the bazaars—there are fewer unconscious people.” The holiday of “Komsomol Christmas” gradually came to an end. He was criticized in the press as having played no significant role in anti-religious propaganda. And in 1925, a planned struggle against religion and Orthodox holidays began, which resulted in the final abolition of Christmas in 1929. Christmas Day turned into a regular work day. Along with Christmas, the tree, already firmly fused with it, was also canceled. The Christmas tree, which the Orthodox Church once opposed, has now come to be called a “priestly” custom.
During these critical years in the fate of the tree, it seemed that it had come to an end. On New Year's Eve evenings, guards walked the streets and peered into the windows of apartments to see if the lights of the Christmas trees were shining somewhere. In schools, in order to combat Christmas and the New Year tree, they began to hold “Anti-Christmas evenings”, at which they staged plays ridiculing priests and the church, sang anti-religious satirical couplets, like: “Ding-bom, ding-bom, we won’t go to church anymore.” . They stopped having Christmas trees in kindergartens. And yet, it was never possible to completely eradicate the beloved custom: the tree “went underground.” As the writer I. Tokmakova recalls, she continued to be accommodated in families faithful to pre-revolutionary traditions. They did this with great care. The tree was usually provided by a janitor, who before Christmas went out of town into the forest with a huge sack, cut down the tree, cut it in half and stuffed it into the sack. At home, he put splints on the rough trunk, and the tree “became whole and slender again.”
At the end of 1935, the tree was not so much revived as it was turned into a new holiday, which received a simple and clear formulation: “The New Year tree is a holiday of joyful and happy childhood in our country.” Arranging New Year trees for children of employees of institutions and industrial enterprises is becoming mandatory. Now the spruce tree is a necessary accessory not only for the Soviet New Year holiday, but also for Soviet life in general. The holiday was organized by the “Christmas tree commission,” which usually included trade union activists: they developed the program, delivered the tree, provided Santa Claus, and prepared gifts. The most difficult thing was choosing gifts and deciding “which gift to give to which of the guys so as not to go over the limit and at the same time everyone was happy.” A special gift was prepared for each child, which subsequently came out of the practice of Soviet Christmas trees, which assumed the equality of all children.
The connection between the tree and Christmas was forgotten. The Christmas tree became an attribute of the public holiday of the New Year, one of the three (along with October and May Day) main Soviet holidays. The eight-pointed star of Bethlehem at the top of the “Christmas tree” has now been replaced by a five-pointed one - the same as on the Kremlin towers. The desire to idealize the revived holiday is becoming more open every day. On the beautiful Christmas tree, sparkling in the rays of the spotlights, installed in the House of Unions, hung thousands of Christmas tree decorations with workers’ and peasants’ communist symbols.
Several more years passed, and January 1, 1947 again became a “red day of the calendar,” that is, a non-working day, and the Christmas tree in the House of Unions acquired the official status of “the main Christmas tree of the country.” In 1954, the New Year tree received the “right to enter” the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace - it served two thousand children a year. For the first time, the Kremlin opened to the lucky ones who received New Year's invitations. New Year's masquerade balls were held in the same St. George's Hall for young production leaders, students of the capital's universities, students of military educational institutions, tenth grade students, and Komsomol workers.
After the “thaw”, with the advent of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the country’s main children’s holiday moved there. But by the beginning of the 70s, many Muscovites, and even residents of other cities, were not at all eager to attend the “main Christmas trees”. And to this day, the most desirable ones for us are not public, but home Christmas trees, where we gather with our families. At these home holidays, people forget about the official role played by the tree and celebrate it as a family celebration, according to the traditions established in the family. The Orthodox Church forgot about its hostility towards the Christmas tree. Now green trees stand not only in churches during Christmas services, but also in the houses of clergy.
In 1991, Russia began to celebrate Christmas again. January 7 was declared a non-working day. “And, as always at this time,” the Nevskoe Vremya newspaper wrote at the end of December 1993, “trees are burning on the main street of St. Petersburg - not just New Year’s, already Christmas trees, without red stars.” For three centuries, the Christmas tree conscientiously fulfilled the functions assigned to it, and even forced idealization did not prevent it in an informal home environment from remaining everyone’s favorite and annually desired, passionately awaited Christmas tree long before the New Year. This is how we remember her. This is how our children will remember her. Let's hope that the grandchildren will walk around the decorated, shining tree and sing a simple song composed almost a hundred years ago.
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Now it is difficult to imagine celebrating the New Year without its symbol - the fluffy evergreen beauty of spruce. On the eve of this wonderful holiday, it is installed in every home, decorated with toys, tinsel and garlands. The fragrant smell of fresh pine needles and the taste of tangerines - this is what most Russian children associate with the New Year holiday. The children find their gifts under the Christmas tree. At matinees, round dances are performed around her and songs are sung. But this was not always the case. Where did the New Year tree come from in Rus'? The history of the tradition of decorating it for the New Year is described in this material.
Pagan Totem Tree
Our ancestors believed that all trees are alive and spirits live in them. In pre-Christian times, the Celtic Druidic calendar included a day of worship of the fir tree. For them, it was a symbol of courage, strength, and the pyramidal shape of the tree resembled heavenly fire. Fir cones also symbolized health and strength of spirit. The ancient Germans considered this tree sacred and worshiped it. They identified it with the World Tree - the source of eternal life and immortality. There was a custom: at the end of December, people went into the forest, chose the fluffiest and tallest tree, decorated it with multi-colored ribbons and made various offerings. Then they danced around the tree and sang ritual songs. All this symbolized the cyclical nature of life, its revival, the beginning of a new thing, the arrival of spring. Among the pagan Slavs, on the contrary, spruce was associated with the world of the dead and was often used in funeral rites. Although it was believed that if you place spruce paws in the corners of a house or barn, this will protect the home from storms and thunderstorms, and its inhabitants from illnesses and evil spirits.
New Year tree: the history of its appearance in Europe after the Nativity of Christ
The Germans were the first to decorate the Christmas tree in their homes back in the Middle Ages. It is no coincidence that this tradition appeared in medieval Germany. There is a legend that the holy Apostle Boniface, an ardent missionary and preacher of the word of God, cut down an oak tree dedicated to the god of thunder, Thor. He did this in order to show the pagans the powerlessness of their gods. The felled tree felled several more trees, but the spruce survived. St. Boniface declared the spruce a sacred tree, Christbaum (tree of Christ).
There is also a legend about a poor lumberjack who, on the eve of Christmas, sheltered a little boy who was lost in the forest. He warmed, fed and left the lost child to spend the night. The next morning the boy disappeared, and in his place he left a small coniferous tree at the door. In fact, under the guise of an unfortunate child, Christ himself came to the woodcutter and thus thanked him for the warm welcome. Since then, spruces have become the main Christmas attribute not only in Germany, but also in other European countries.
The story of the appearance of the star on the top of the Christmas tree
At first, people decorated their houses only with branches and large spruce paws, but later they began to bring whole trees. But much later, the custom of decorating the New Year tree appeared.
The story of the appearance of a star on the Christmas tree is associated with the name of the founder of Protestantism - the German Martin Luther, the head of the burgher Reformation. One day, while walking down the street on Christmas Eve, Luther looked at the bright stars of the night sky. There were so many of them in the night sky that it seemed as if they, like small lights, were stuck in the treetops. Arriving home, he decorated the small fir tree with apples and burning candles. And he placed an asterisk on the top of the tree, as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem, which announced to the Magi about the birth of the infant Christ. Subsequently, this tradition spread among followers of the ideas of Protestantism, and subsequently throughout the country. Beginning in the 17th century, this fragrant conifer became the main symbol of Christmas Eve in medieval Germany. The German language even has a definition such as Weihnachtsbaum - Christmas tree, pine.
The appearance of the Christmas tree in Rus'
The history of the appearance of the New Year tree in Russia began in 1699. The custom of erecting a Christmas tree appeared in the country during the reign of Peter I, at the beginning of the 18th century. The Russian Tsar issued a decree on the transition to a new account of time, the chronology began from the date of the Nativity of Christ.
The start date of the next year began to be considered the first of January, and not the first of September, as was previously the case. The decree also mentioned that the nobility should decorate their houses with pine and juniper trees and branches in the European style before Christmas. On January 1, it was also ordered to launch rockets, arrange fireworks and decorate the capital's buildings with pine branches. After the death of Peter the Great, this tradition was forgotten, except that drinking establishments were decorated with fir branches on Christmas Eve. By these branches (tied to a stake stuck at the entrance), visitors could easily recognize the taverns located inside the buildings.
Revival of Peter's customs in the first half of the 19th century
The history of the New Year tree and the tradition of decorating it for the holy holiday did not end there. The custom of placing lighted candles on the Christmas tree and giving each other gifts for Christmas became widespread in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. This fashion was introduced among the courtiers by his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, a German by birth. Later, all the noble families of St. Petersburg followed her example, and then the rest of society. In the early 40s, the Northern Bee newspaper noted that “it is becoming our custom to celebrate Christmas Eve” by decorating the cherished Christmas tree with sweets and toys. In the capital, on the square near Gostiny Dvor, grandiose Christmas tree markets are held. If poor people could not buy even a small tree, then noble people competed with each other: who had a taller, more magnificent, or more elegant spruce. Sometimes precious stones, expensive fabrics, beads, and gimp (thin silver or gold thread) were used to decorate the green beauty. The celebration itself, organized in honor of the main Christian event - the Birth of Christ, began to be called the Christmas tree.
History of the Christmas tree in the USSR
With the Bolsheviks coming to power, all religious holidays, including Christmas, were cancelled. The Christmas tree was considered to be a bourgeois attribute, a relic of the imperial past. For several years this wonderful family tradition became illegal. But in some families it was still preserved, despite the government ban. Only in 1935, thanks to a note by party leader Pavel Postyshev in the main communist publication of those years - the Pravda newspaper, this evergreen tree regained its undeservedly forgotten recognition as a symbol of the coming year.
The wheel of history turned back, and Christmas trees for children began to be held again. Instead of the Star of Bethlehem, its top is decorated with a red five-pointed star - the official symbol of Soviet Russia. Since then, trees began to be called “New Year’s” and not “Christmas”, and the trees and holidays themselves were called not Christmas, but New Year’s. For the first time in the history of Russia, an official document appears on non-working holidays: the first of January officially becomes a day off.
Kremlin Christmas trees
But this is not the end of the story of the New Year tree in Russia. For children in 1938 in Moscow, in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, a huge multi-meter Christmas tree with tens of thousands of glass balls and toys was installed. Since then, every year a giant New Year tree stands in this hall and children's parties are held. Every Soviet child dreams of going to the New Year tree in the Kremlin. And until now, Muscovites’ favorite meeting place for next year is Kremlin Square with a huge, elegantly decorated forest beauty installed on it.
Christmas tree decorations: then and now
In tsarist times, Christmas tree decorations could be eaten. These were shaped gingerbread cookies, wrapped in multi-colored metallic paper. Candied fruits, apples, marmalade, gilded nuts, paper flowers, ribbons, and cardboard figurines of angels were also hung on the branches. But the main element of the Christmas tree decor were lit candles. Glass inflatable balls were brought mainly from Germany, and they were quite expensive. Figurines with porcelain heads were highly valued. In Russia, only at the end of the 19th century did artels for the production of New Year's products appear. They also make cotton, cardboard toys and papier-mâché figurines. In Soviet times, starting in the 60s, mass production of factory-made Christmas tree decorations began. These products did not differ in variety: the same “cones”, “icicles”, “pyramids”. Fortunately, now on store shelves you can find many interesting Christmas tree decorations, including hand-painted ones.
Where did the tinsel and garlands come from?
No less interesting is the history of the appearance of other New Year's paraphernalia: tinsel and garlands. Previously, tinsel was made from real silver. These were thin threads, like “silver rain”. There is a beautiful myth about the origin of silver tinsel. One very poor woman, who had many children, decided to decorate the tree before Christmas, but since there was no money for rich decorations, the decoration of the tree turned out to be very unattractive. During the night, spiders covered the fir branches with their webs. Knowing the woman’s kindness, God decided to reward her and turned the web into silver.
Nowadays, tinsel is made from colored foil or PVC. Initially, garlands were long strips intertwined with flowers or branches. In the 19th century, the first electric garland with many bulbs appeared. The idea of its creation was put forward by the American inventor Johnson, and brought to life by the Englishman Ralph Morris.
Stories about a small Christmas tree for children and their parents
Many fairy tales, short stories, and funny stories about the New Year tree have been written for small and large children. Here are some of them:
- “The Tale of a Little Christmas Tree”, M. Aromstam. A touching and kind story for kids about a little tree that was rewarded for its desire to bring joy to others.
- Comics from the Snegirev couple “Keshka in pursuit of a Christmas tree.” Short, funny stories about the cat Keshka and his owner.
- Collection of poems "New Year's Tree". Author - Ag Jatkowska.
- A. Smirnov “Christmas tree. Ancient Fun" is an old edition of the 1911 Christmas Lotto reprinted in a modern way.
Older children would be interested in reading “The History of the New Year Tree” in the book by Alexander Tkachenko.
It is difficult to imagine the most anticipated holiday of the year, loved by children and adults, without such a classic attribute as the New Year tree. The history of the tradition that commands us to decorate this tree for the holiday goes back centuries. When did people start decorating evergreen trees in Russia and other countries, what made them do it?
What does the Christmas tree symbolize?
The inhabitants of the ancient world sincerely believed in the magical powers that trees possessed. It was believed that spirits, evil and good, were hiding in their branches, which should be pacified. It is not surprising that trees became objects of various cults. they worshiped them, addressed prayers to them, asked for mercy and protection. So that the spirits would not remain indifferent, they were presented with treats (fruits, sweets), which were hung on the branches or laid out nearby.
Why were not the pines, eucalyptus, oaks and other species decorated, but the Christmas tree? The New Year's story contains many beautiful legends on this topic. The most truthful version is that the coniferous beauty was chosen due to its ability to remain green, no matter what time of year it came. This made the inhabitants of the ancient world consider it a symbol of immortality.
History of the Christmas tree: Europe
The custom, as residents of the modern world know it, developed in medieval Europe. There are different assumptions about when exactly the history of the New Year tree began. Initially, people limited themselves to small branches of pine or spruce that were hung in the house. However, gradually the branches were replaced by entire trees.
If you believe the legend, the history of the New Year tree is closely connected with the famous reformer from Germany. While walking in the evening on Christmas Eve, the theologian admired the beauty of the stars shining in the sky. Arriving home, he placed a small Christmas tree on the table and decorated it using candles. To decorate the top of the tree, Martin chose a star that symbolized the one that helped the wise men find the Baby Jesus.
Of course, this is just a legend. However, there are also official mentions of the Christmas tree, falling approximately on the same time period. For example, it was written about in French chronicles for the year 1600. The first New Year's trees were miniature in size; they were placed on tables or hung from walls and ceilings. However, in the 17th century there were already large Christmas trees in houses. Deciduous trees, which were previously also used to decorate homes before the holidays, were completely forgotten.
Christmas trees in Russia: ancient times
It is believed that the first who tried to make this tree a symbol of the change of year was Peter the Great. In fact, even the ancient Slavic tribes treated coniferous vegetation with special trepidation; they already had a kind of “Christmas tree”. The story goes that our ancestors, in the depths of winter, held dances and sang songs near this tree. The goal for which all this was done was the awakening of the spring goddess Zhiva. She was required to interrupt the reign of Santa Claus and rid the earth of its icy shackles.
Christmas trees in Russia: Middle Ages
Peter the Great really tried to consolidate in our country such a wonderful custom as the New Year tree. The story tells that the emperor first saw the decorated tree in the house of German friends with whom he celebrated Christmas. The idea made a huge impression on him: a spruce tree decorated with candies and fruits instead of ordinary cones. Peter the Great ordered the meeting in accordance with German traditions. However, his heirs forgot about this decree for many years.
In this case, the question arises: where did the New Year tree come from in Russia? This would not have happened for a long time if Catherine the Second had not ordered to put up trees during the holidays. However, conifers were not decorated until the mid-19th century. It was then that the Germans, who missed this cheerful tradition in Russia, installed the first decorated Christmas tree in St. Petersburg.
Unfortunately, it made a lovely family tradition illegal for almost two decades. The Soviet government declared the decoration of coniferous trees a “bourgeois whim.” In addition, at this time there was an active struggle with the church, and the spruce was considered one of the Christmas symbols. However, many inhabitants of Russia at that time did not abandon this beautiful custom. It got to the point that the tree began to be installed secretly by the rebels.
What events does the history of the New Year tree in Russia consist of? Briefly speaking, already in 1935 the tradition became legal again. This happened thanks to Pavel Postyshev, who “allowed” the holiday. However, people were categorically forbidden to call the trees “Christmas”, only “New Year’s”. But the first day of January was returned to its status as a day off.
First Christmas trees for children
A year after the forest beauty returned to the homes of people celebrating the main holiday of the year, a large-scale celebration was organized, held in the House of Unions. This officially began the history of the New Year tree in Russia for children, for whom this celebration was organized. Since then, similar events have traditionally been held in children's institutions with the obligatory distribution of gifts and the calling of Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.
Kremlin Christmas tree
Kremlin Square has been one of the favorite places to celebrate the New Year for Moscow residents for many years. All other Russians do not forget to turn on the TV to admire the majestic Christmas tree, decorated in honor of the arrival of the New Year. The first installation of a coniferous tree, symbolizing eternal life, on Kremlin Square took place back in 1954.
Where did the tinsel come from?
Having understood the history of the appearance of the main thing, one cannot help but become interested in its decorations. For example, such a wonderful tradition as the use of tinsel also came to us from Germany, where it appeared in the 17th century. In those days, it was made from real silver, which was cut thinly, becoming a silvery “rain”, thanks to which the Christmas tree shone. The history of the appearance of modern products made of foil and polyvinyl chloride in Russia is not precisely known.
Interestingly, there is a beautiful legend associated with Christmas tree tinsel. In ancient times, there lived a woman who was the mother of many children. The family was chronically short of money, so the woman was unable to properly decorate the New Year’s symbol; the tree was left practically without decorations. When the family fell asleep, the spiders created a web on the tree. The gods, to reward the mother for her kindness to others, allowed the web to become shining silver.
Back in the middle of the last century, tinsel was only silver. Currently, you can purchase this decoration in almost any color. The characteristics of the materials used for manufacturing make the products extremely durable.
A few words about lighting
As already mentioned, it was customary not only to decorate coniferous trees brought into the house for the New Year, but also to illuminate them. For a long time, only candles were used for these purposes, which were securely attached to the branches. The debate about who exactly came up with the idea of using garlands is still not over. What does history say about how the New Year tree with modern lighting appeared?
The most common theory says that the idea of lighting the evergreen beauty with electricity was first expressed by the American Johnson. This proposal was successfully implemented by his compatriot Maurice, an engineer by profession. It was he who first created a garland, assembling this convenient structure from a large number of small light bulbs. Humanity first saw a holiday tree illuminated in this way in Washington.
The evolution of Christmas tree decorations
It’s hard to imagine a modern New Year tree without garland and tinsel. However, it is even more difficult to refuse elegant toys that easily create a festive atmosphere. Interestingly, the first Christmas tree decorations in Russia were edible. To decorate the symbol of the New Year, dough figures wrapped in foil were created. The foil could be golden, silver, or painted in bright colors. Fruits and nuts were also hung on the branches. Gradually, other available materials began to be used to create decor.
Some time later, glass products, mainly produced in Germany, began to be imported into the country. But local glassblowers quickly mastered the manufacturing technology, as a result of which bright toys began to be created in Russia. In addition to glass, materials such as cotton wool and cardboard were actively used. The first ones were distinguished by their significant weight; by the beginning of the 20th century, craftsmen began to produce thin glass.
Around the beginning of the 70s, people had to forget about unique jewelry designs. “Balls”, “icicles”, “bells” were stamped on conveyors by factories that used the same technologies. Interesting specimens came across less and less often; the same toys hung in different houses. Fortunately, these days, finding truly original Christmas tree decorations is no longer a difficult task.
A few words about the star
Decorating a tree for the holiday is fun with your child, who will love the story of where the Christmas tree came from. The story of its appearance in Russia will become even more interesting for children if you don’t forget to tell them about the star. In the USSR, it was decided to abandon the classical one that showed the way to the baby Jesus. Its alternative was a red ruby item, reminiscent of those placed on the Kremlin towers. Sometimes such stars were produced along with light bulbs.
Interestingly, there is no analogue of the Soviet star in the whole world. Of course, modern products for decorating the top of a Christmas tree look much more attractive and interesting.
This is a brief summary of the life of the New Year tree, the history of its appearance in Russia as a classic attribute of the holiday.
Nowadays it is difficult to imagine a New Year's holiday without snow and spruce. But a few centuries ago, an evergreen tree was not an attribute of the New Year, and the holiday itself in Russia was celebrated in September.
The tradition of decorating the New Year's tree is known from Celtic legends. The ancient Slavs decorated oak or birch instead of a Christmas tree.
In Europe, the tradition of celebrating the New Year with a green beauty began in Germany with an ancient German legend about trees blooming magnificently during the winter cold. Soon, decorating Christmas trees became fashionable and spread to many countries of the Old World. In order to avoid massive deforestation, artificial spruce trees began to be produced in Germany in the 19th century.
Old Christmas card
Sergey Korovin. Christmas
The New Year tradition came to Russia on the eve of 1700, during the reign of Peter I, who gave the order to switch to a new calendar (from the Nativity of Christ) from January 1, 1700 and to celebrate the New Year on January 1, and not September 1 . The decree stated: “...On large and well-traveled streets, for noble people and at houses of deliberate spiritual and worldly rank, make some decorations in front of the gates from trees and branches of pine and juniper... and for poor people, each one should put at least a tree or branch on the gate or above his temple [house] ... »
After the death of the king, the instructions were preserved only regarding the decoration of drinking establishments, which continued to be decorated with Christmas trees before the New Year. Taverns were identified by these trees. The trees stood near the establishments until the next year, on the eve of which the old trees were replaced with new ones.
Heinrich Manizer. Christmas tree auction
Alexey Chernyshev. Christmas tree in Anichkov Palace
The first public Christmas tree was installed in the building of the Ekaterininsky Station (now Moskovsky) in St. Petersburg only in 1852.
At different times, Christmas trees were decorated in different ways: first with fruits, fresh and artificial flowers to create the effect of a flowering tree. Later, the decorations became fabulous: gilded cones, boxes with surprises, sweets, nuts and burning Christmas candles. Soon, handmade toys were added: children and adults made them from wax, cardboard, cotton wool and foil. And at the end of the 19th century, electric garlands replaced wax candles.
During the First World War, Emperor Nicholas II declared the Christmas tree tradition “enemy.” After the October Revolution, the ban was lifted, but in 1926 the government of workers and peasants again eliminated the “Christmas tree” tradition, considering it bourgeois.
New Year tree in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. 1950s TASS photo chronicle
New Year tree in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. Photo: N. Akimov, L. Porter / TASS Photo Chronicle
Only in 1938, a huge 15-meter Christmas tree with ten thousand decorations and toys appeared in Moscow, in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. They began to install it annually and hold children’s New Year’s parties there, called “New Year’s trees.” Since 1976, the main New Year's tree in the country has been the tree installed in the State Kremlin Palace. Kids in New Year's hats near the tree. Photo: T. Gladskikh / photobank “Lori”
