Even though traditionally, in Germany, the Christmas tree is first revealed in its decorated glory on Christmas Eve and then remains until December 6th, in America, we are already decorating Christmas trees around this Thanksgiving time. There is such a variety of Christmas tree styles and types of trees used - from artificial to live ones. In my imagination, if I could conjure up the "ideal" German tree, this is somewhat what it would look like:
I think the most popular tree used in Northern Europe, just based on some reading I have done, is a variety of fir tree - balsam, noble, Nordmann, and silver-tipped. They tend to not have the conical (triangular) shape of an idea tree like a Douglas fir or spruce, but have some uneven, stray branches sticking out randomly at the top, which gives it a whimsical, not-so-perfectly-shaped appearance:
I have a few pictures of my German family at Christmas (actually, the picture below is probably from New Years Eve, based on the bottle of "spirits" my great-great grandfather is holding). I wish I knew exactly what year this was, but considering my great-great grandfather passed away in the mid-1930s, it obviously had to have been before then. My great-great grandfather is seated here on the left, 2 of his children are also pictured (his son behind him, holding what appears to be a dog? and his daughter seated on her fiance-soon-to-be-husband's lap). A neighbor is peeking out from behind the happy couple:
This next picture is taken at Christmas 1970 - and that baby is *ME*. I was born at the end of November. I am being admired by my grandparents - my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandfather. This Christmas tree has something on it, aside from the candles, that to me represents German tree decorating or perhaps it is only a trend of the time period. It is the Lametta, the silver "icicle" tinsel.
Maybe you can see a little of that German influence on the trees we had while I was growing up. For example, in 1981, we had the biggest cedar tree (from my Tennessee Grandpa's farm) in our living room, and it was decorated with real candles and Lametta.....
and in 1984, we decorated with an apple theme and candles.
While themed trees and fancily decorated trees are lovely, and I cherish every hand-made ornament that my children place on our family tree now, I think that a traditional German tree has a more "natural" feel to it. The ornaments seem often to be made out of wood or wool, perhaps crocheted snowflakes or intricate tin craftsmanship, homemade stars formed from foil paper, dried fruits such as orange slices, and natural elements like pine cones and berries.
In the days ahead, I hope to share a little more about my experiences of Christmas, German-style.
However you may prefer to decorate your tree, it is always such a joy to pull out the ornaments and perhaps look forward to new ones ... and to hear the carols of Christmas such as O Tannenbaum!
It must be my German roots - all these things that you've talked about making a German-style tree are some of my favorites!! I really loved this article. It also makes me want a noble fir this year.... if only ;-)
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