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The first Christmas tree was dressed up in Germany. Thanks to the well-known Martin Luther, this happened in 1513 when he returned home late at night in the night. He put a small Christmas tree on the table, dressed it with candles and a star, which he placed on the top as a reminder of the Bethlehem star, who indicated in the Bible the way to the birthplace of Jesus.It is widely known that in Central Europe of the 16th century there was a tradition to decorate a small beech tree with pears, plums and apples, which were pre-cooked in honey, as well as hazelnuts. On Christmas Eve, the beech, decorated in this way, was placed in the center of the festive table. In about a century, not only deciduous trees but also conifers appeared at Christmas parties in Switzerland and Germany.
In the 18-19 centuries, the Christmas tree began to dress up England, Denmark, Holland, the Czech Republic and Austria.Thanks to the development of emigration, people from Germany taught how to decorate Christmas trees and Americans. At first, fruit, candles and various sweets were used for this, but over time, it became customary to decorate Christmas trees with cardboard, cotton and wax toys, and later glass.
Thanks to Peter the First, New Year trees appeared in Russia. After Peter ascended the throne, funny Christmas trees in the manner seen in Europe appeared in Russia. On the central streets and at the homes of noble people, they installed decorations from coniferous trees and their branches. After Peter's death, everything was forgotten about the Christmas tree for a long time. Only in 1817, with the advent of Charlotte, the wife of Prince Nikolai Pavlovich in Russia, there was a tradition to decorate the New Year's table with bouquets from branches. In 1819, the first holiday tree appeared in the Anichkov Palace, which was established by Nikolay Pavlovich under the influence of his wife, and 1852 was the year in which the first decorated Christmas tree was demonstrated publicly. She appeared in the premises of the Catherine’s (later Moskovsky) station in St. Petersburg. After that, there was a surge in the popularity of Christmas trees. Rich Russians began to write out expensive European decorations and hold festive matinees for children.
The First World War - the period of refusal to decorate a Christmas tree, as from the enemy tradition, which came from a hostile Germany.Nicholas II imposed a ban on it, which was canceled after the October Revolution. The Soviet-era public Christmas tree was first installed on December 31, 1917 on the territory of the Mikhailovsky Artillery School in St. Petersburg.
Then there was a ban on the use of a decorated Christmas tree as a holiday symbol came in 1926, when this tradition was called the Central Committee of the Communist Party anti-Soviet. Active anti-religious work was carried out, within the framework of which it was, in particular, forbidden to celebrate Christmas. Therefore, the use of any Christmas attributes could not be considered.However, by 1935, the holiday tree was experiencing a revival again. December 28 in the newspaper "Pravda" appeared a note on the organization of the installation of a Christmas tree for children. This proposal came from Postyshev, the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and received the support of Stalin.
Since 1976, this title has passed to the tree, installed in the Kremlin. Being originally a symbol of Christmas, the dressed up Christmas tree gradually turned into a New Year attribute.
The tradition of decorating the Christmas tree with fruits and sweets also gradually transformed. Christmas toys are a reflection of the era. They depicted pioneers trumpeting in the forges, and portraits of members of the Politburo, and during World War II, toys appeared with weapons, paratroopers, and orderlies. Later, the pictures of the military theme were replaced by snowflakes with the sickle and hammer depicted on them, airplanes and cars.In times of Khrushchev, corn cobs, tractors and hockey players appeared on fir-trees, and after a while, fairytale characters and everything related to space.
Today, there are many different styles of decorating Christmas trees. The traditional option is to decorate a New Year tree with colored glass toys, tinsel and electric lights. In the last century, there was a transition from natural trees to artificial ones, which sometimes very realistically imitate living trees. Some of them are stylized and do not involve the use of additional decorations.There is also a fashion for certain colors of Christmas-tree decor. The tree can be blue, red, gold, silver or any other color. Laconicism and minimalism are in fashion. They are invariably used to decorate Christmas trees with lights, however, these are often not light bulbs, but LEDs.
Truly amazing.