Germans will drape decorations on around 30 million Christmas
trees this year, after shelling out way over half a billion
euros on a holiday tradition with Teutonic roots. According to
German wood industry association the HDH, Germans bought around
100,000 more trees than last year. But the mighty Tannenbaum is
no passing trend. The first Christmas tree was planted around
500 years ago by Germans, and the tradition has grown stronger
ever since. For such an international phenomenon, the history of
the Christmas tree remains a mysterious to many. But the
historical roots of the Tannenbaum are fairly surprising - a
group of young German merchants in a Baltic country. Christmas
does of course have a pre-Christian history, and decorating the
house during the dark winter months is a tradition that precedes
Christianity, and its German connection, by thousands of years.
Many ancient societies included the custom of bringing evergreen
plants into homes during the cold months as a reminder of the
summer. From norther