Origin of the Christmas Tree

Are you ever curious on how we come to celebrate Christmas with a Christmas tree?  There seem to be plenty of references leading to Christmas and many aspects of its tradition such as gift giving, Santa Claus, and the wreaths as originating from pagan traditions preceding Christianity in the Old World.

I suppose that it makes sense that Christmas has roots from the beliefs of people that were previously non-Christian and after they’ve been converted, some of their practices and traditions were too strong to simply just let go.  Hence, these traditions have evolved as part of what we know as Christmas today.

Christmas Tree Invented by Saint Boniface

Within the tenets of Christianity, it seems that the Christmas tree originated from Saint Boniface, the patron saint of Germany.  The story goes that St. Bonaface felled the sacred Oak of Thor after which Thor was suppose to strike him down for his insolence.  He was not stricken down.  Instead, a young fir tree sprung from the fallen oak and St. Bonaface claimed it as the new holy tree for Christ.

From there, the Christmas tree became the symbol of Christ for the German tribes.  Over the years, it became a universal symbol for Christmas.  It is also the reason why fir Christmas trees remain the standard today.