The Christmas Tree

Martin Luther probably created the first Christmas Tree and the tradition developed in Germany. It first appeared in Massachusetts in 1832. Charles Follen, a radical political reformer, had fled his native Germany and was teaching German and gymnastics at Harvard.

 For his young son, Follen decorated a Christmas tree with small dolls, gilded eggshells and candied fruit. Candles were arranged with care on the branches. (Early Christmas trees could be an adventure.) In theatrical fashion he opened the doors at his Cambridge home. ‘The children poured in, but in a moment every voiced was hushed. Their faces were upturned to the blaze, all eyes wide open.”