In Western culture, the image of the Christmas tree is known primarily as one of the main symbols of Christmas - the history of this tradition has been going on for six centuries.
The Alsatian city of the humanists Celeste, who introduced the custom of decorating houses for Christmas with Christmas trees, can seriously compete with these Baltic cities. By the way, in neighboring Lorraine, such a popular Christmas tree decoration as a glass ball appeared. So the debate about how and where, the tradition of decorating Christmas trees arose, will excite the minds of connoisseurs of Christmas traditions for a long time. In the 16th century, this custom became firmly rooted in Germany, Austria, Alsace and Lorraine. Moreover, the supporters of the Reformation supported the innovation in every possible way, emphasizing the symbolism of ate as an analogue of the heavenly Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
At the end of the 16th century, under the influence of the spreading Protestantism, the custom of giving gifts on the occasion of the end of the year shifted from December 6 (St. Nicholas Day) to December 24. From that moment on, the spruce became a Christmas attribute of the new religion, and the main symbol was the baby Jesus (Christkindel), instead of St. Nicholas, who was associated with pagan cults. Since then, the center of celebrations has been the Christmas tree, at the base of which gifts have been placed. Infant Jesus, who over time began to be portrayed as a young girl in a veil, dressed in a white robe and a golden crown with fir branches and candles. She gives gifts to obedient children, while a terrible grandfather with rods (in the Alsatian tradition of Hans Trapp), in turn, treats disobedient children not with desired gifts, but with a whip. Then the ideologists of the Reformation, in particular Martin Luther,They refused to use the nativity scenes (Christmas scenes) adopted by Catholics to celebrate Christmas, since among Protestants the veneration of material, material incarnations of the divine faded into the background. Instead, they established the tradition of decorating Christmas trees - after all, this attribute of Christmas, unlike nativity scenes, does not directly depict either Christ or other biblical characters. The main elements of the symbolism of the decoration of the Christmas tree during this period are considered to be traditional red apples, but more and more often they use multi-colored paper wrappers in the form of roses. The flowers are an allusion to the words of the prophet Isaiah about the "root of Jesse" - the tree of Jesse, or the family tree of Jesus, hinting at the origin of the Savior. And also, the flowers on the tree reminded of the words of the Christmas anthem Es ist ein Ros entsprungen ("A rose has grown"),written just in that era.
Traditional celebration of Christmas in Germany in the 16th century.
In Russian culture, the spruce was endowed with various sacred meanings and was associated mainly with various kinds of evil spirits (devils, goblin and other inhabitants of dense forests). The word "spruce" was formed from the popular vernacular "els" - one of the names of the devil, the devil: "What do you want?" Spruce was traditionally considered by the Slavs as a tree of death, about which there are many testimonies. There was even a gloomy custom: suicides were buried between two trees. In some places, there was a ban on planting spruce near the house, so as not to bring trouble to the head of the family. The ritual of funeral wreaths, again made of spruce, has survived to this day. Since the end of the 19th century, the gloomy image of the spruce began to gradually change, combining two traditional rites in its semantics:the primordial Russian funeral ceremony with fir wreaths and the celebration of Christmas with an elegant and fluffy Christmas tree, which came from the West. Gradually, in the minds of Russians, the fir tree firmly connected with the positive symbol of the Christmas tree.
In Russia, the tree as a Christmas attribute appeared much later. At the beginning of the 18th century, after his trip to Europe, Peter I issued a decree according to which it was ordered to keep the chronology not from the Creation of the World, but from the Nativity of Christ, and the beginning of the new year ("new year"), which was previously celebrated in Russia on September 1, was postponed to 1 January, as in the rest of the Christian world. This decree also gave recommendations on the organization of the New Year's holiday. Remarkable is the fact that the spruce appeared mainly as an urban decoration, and no one put it in the houses, and the priority was given to festive fireworks. The tree will become a symbol of Christmas in Russia only at the beginning of the 19th century. The first Christmas trees appeared in the homes of St. Petersburg Germans, who zealously guarded the customs brought from their homeland. AND. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, in his story “Test” (1831), depicting Christmastide in St. Petersburg in the 1820s, writes: “The Germans, who make up almost a third of the St. Petersburg population, have a children's holiday on Christmas Eve. On the table, in the corner of the room, a tree rises … Children look there with curiosity. " And further: “Finally, the longed-for hour of the evening comes - the whole family gets together. The head of this celebration tears off the veil, and the Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree) appears in full glory to the eyes of the delighted children …”. The head of this celebration tears off the veil, and the Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree) appears in full glory to the eyes of the delighted children …”. The head of this celebration tears off the veil, and the Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree) appears in full glory to the eyes of the delighted children …”.
Masquerade in 1722 on the streets of Moscow with the participation of Peter I. Painting by V. Surikov.
Presumably, the fashion for Christmas trees, as a symbol of Christmas, spread under Nicholas I in the late 1830s, after which, following the example of the royal family, they began to install spruce in noble capital houses. Gradually, the Christmas tree conquered other social strata of St. Petersburg. This was largely facilitated by the print media, which ten years later started talking about the Christmas tree as an outlandish decoration. And from that moment on, St. Petersburg was engulfed in “Christmas tree excitement”. Christmas trees were not cheap, and the best were those that were brought from Finland (then still part of the Russian Empire) by local peasants. The popularity of the spruce was explained by the fashion for romantic literature - the works of E. T. Hoffmann and G. H. Andersen were well known in Russia.
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Their works were printed for Christmas in special editions, offering children festive reading (the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" was published in Russia in 1839). Thus, Christmas rituals spread throughout the empire and, later, became entrenched in Russian culture. On Christmas Eve 1892, the ballet The Nutcracker to the music of PI Tchaikovsky was staged for the first time at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Since then, the tradition of staging "The Nutcracker" at Christmas has become widely known in European countries, and music for the ballet accompanies festive trees in many countries.
Scene from the ballet Nutcracker at the Mariinsky Theater, 1892.
After the revolution, the fashion for Christmas trees did not disappear anywhere, and even in 1918 M. Gorky and N. A. Benois published a New Year's edition for children "Yolka", decorated with colorful thematic illustrations by famous artists. A sad turn in the tradition of celebrating Christmas came after the change of calendars, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced in the country, and the New Year changed places with Christmas. The status of the holiday dropped sharply by 1922, due to the growth of official propaganda directed against religious holidays. Then December 25 was still a day off, but at the festive events lectures were given exposing the "economic roots of the Christmas holidays", political satire and "living pictures" were given, and Christmas trees turned into "Komsomol" ones.
By the beginning of the 30s, even the "Komsomol trees" were canceled, declaring this tradition a relic of the past. Another turn in this story took place by the middle of the decade. From the memoirs of NS Khrushchev: “We got out, got into Stalin's car. All fit in one. We drove and talked. Postyshev then raised the question: “Comrade Stalin, that would be a good tradition and the people would like it, and the children would especially enjoy a Christmas tree. We condemn this now. Why not return the tree to the children? " Stalin supported him: "Take the initiative, come out in print with a proposal to return the Christmas tree to the children, and we will support." And so it happened. " And after a short note in Pravda, the New Year tree returned to Soviet children, and Christmas was finally abolished. Partially, with numerous edits,the attributes of the Christmas tree migrated to the new Soviet reality, together with the already traditional meeting of the first moments of the New Year to the chimes with a glass of champagne, tangerines, Olivier salad and warm wishes for the coming year.
Author: Maria Molchanova