Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Christmas Trees 2017 , Civic Park, Newcastle NSW - Photo by Naomi Trute  So close to Christmas  I  must include the ‘tree’ in this list of Christmas firsts. There may be some debate over the exact location  and date of the FIRST Christmas tree but I think it has been narrowed down to northern Europe ( Estonia/Latvia) in the 15 th to 16 th century.   Legend suggests that the first tree decorated with paper flowers was burnt after a ceremony celebrating a mixture of pagan and Christian customs  in 1510  in Riga , Latvia.   Other early appearances of indoor Christmas trees have been recorded In Germany… Martin Luther, the religious reformer, invented the Christmas tree. One winter’s night in 1536, so the story goes, Luther was walking through a pine forest near his home in Wittenberg when he suddenly looked up and saw thousands of stars glinting jewel-like among the branches of the trees. This wondrous sight inspired him to set ...

Christmas Countdown ...3... Christmas Tree :   The symbolic meaning of Christmas trees actually originates in pagan culture where the evergreen represents life and renewal.  In Scandinavia, decorating evergreens was a practice associated with the Winter Solstice and often brought into homes, as symbols of protection against evil spirits. In many sources, Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer,  has been credited with the first decorated Christmas tree – with candles.  Although this could just be a story, German Christians are known to have decorated evergreens in their home as early as the mid-16 th century.  It wasn’t until the nineteenth century in other countries that Christmas trees became the bright " giving"  symbol of Christmas as we know it. The first Christmas tree in England was set up in Windsor Castle by Prince Albert of Saxony, Queen Victoria’s husband in 1841. Franklin Pierce was the first US president to introduce a Christmas ...