The Origins of the Christmas Tree Tradition

The Origins of the Christmas Tree Tradition

Alsace, Germany, the Baltics: Who Really Invented the Christmas Tree?

We think we know where the Christmas tree comes from.

We imagine a cosy German village, a gentle snowfall, maybe a choir humming in the distance — a timeless symbol rooted in ancient traditions.

Except… not quite.

Not according to the archives, anyway.

In this historical deep dive, writer Pierre travels across five centuries of ledgers, legends, bonfires and bureaucratic surprises to uncover the messy, delightful, and occasionally pyromaniac truth behind the world’s favourite festive tree.

From medieval Baltic guilds who decorated their trees and then set them on fire, to Strasbourg merchants already selling Christmas trees before Sélestat even sharpened its quills, to the famous 1521 accounting line that turned an ordinary Alsatian ledger into a global claim to fame — this investigation rewrites everything we think we know about the Christmas tree’s origins.

Because behind today’s peaceful living-room centrepiece lies a story of competition, coincidence, cultural overlaps… and one accountant who accidentally made history.

🎄 Inside this 3,000-word investigation:

– Tallinn (1441): the first documented Christmas tree… that wasn’t actually a Christmas tree

– Riga (1476–1510): decorated trees, medieval bachelors, and the yearly tradition of setting everything on fire

– Strasbourg: the earliest commercial Christmas trees — and the birth of the “domestic tree”

– Sélestat (1521): how a single line in a municipal ledger became the world’s oldest surviving proof of a modern-style Christmas tree

– Why the Baden region was doing the exact same thing, but left no paperwork

– How the Reformation quietly turbo-charged the spread of the tree

– When the bourgeoisie adopted it and turned it into a status symbol

– How the Christmas tree finally conquered France (with the help of a German princess and a war)

– And why three regions still insist they invented it

More than a seasonal curiosity, this is a story about how traditions actually evolve — through trade routes, misunderstandings, migrations, local pride, and the stubborn desire to brighten the darkest days of winter with something green.

📘 Originally published on Substack for paying readers, this beautifully formatted, downloadable PDF is now available for just £3 (approx. $4 USD) — a compact journey into the tangled, surprising, and very human history of the Christmas tree.