The custom of decorating the Christmas tree came to us from Germany. According to one legend, late one night in 1513 Martin Luther was walking home through the woods and noticed how beautiful the stars were shining through the trees. He wanted to share the beauty with his wife, so he cut down a Christmas tree and took it home.
At home he put a Christmas tree on the table and decorated it with candles, and on top he put a star in memory of the star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the cave where Jesus was born and said that it would be a symbol of the beautiful Christmas sky. It is also known that in the 16th century in Central Europe, on Christmas night, it was common to put a small beech tree in the middle of the table, decorated with small apples, plums, pears and hazelnuts boiled in honey.
In the second half of the 17th century, in German and Swiss homes, it was already common custom to decorate the Christmas table not only with foliage, but also with conifers. The main thing is that it should be of a toy size. At first, small Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling with candy and apples, and only later the custom of decorating the guest room with one large tree was established.
In XVIII-XIX centuries, the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree has spread not only throughout Germany, but also appeared in England, Austria, Czech Republic, Holland and Denmark. In America, Christmas trees also appeared thanks to the German immigrants. Initially Christmas trees were decorated with candles, fruits and sweets, later the custom included toys made of wax, absorbent cotton, cardboard, and then glass
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