First fir trees decorated for Christmas

10 December 2009 - 02:00
By unknown

THE first reference of a fir tree decorated for Christmas is at Riga in Latvia in 1510. In 1521, the Princess Hlne de Mecklembourg introduced the Christmas tree to Paris after she married the Duke of Orleans.

THE first reference of a fir tree decorated for Christmas is at Riga in Latvia in 1510. In 1521, the Princess Hlne de Mecklembourg introduced the Christmas tree to Paris after she married the Duke of Orleans.

There also is a printed reference to Christmas trees in Germany, dated 1531. Another reference, to 1601, is about a visitor to Strasbourg, Germany (now part of France).

It was introduced to the U S by German settlers and by Hessian mercenaries . In 1804, US soldiers at Fort Dearborn in Chicago hauled trees from surrounding woods to their barracks.

Britain was introduced to it in 1841 when Queen Victoria's German husband gifted her a Christmas tree. - howstuffworks.com