The history of the appearance of the New Year's tree. Christmas tree

Story

The history of decorating trees for the holiday goes back to the reign of the pharaohs. In those days, palm trees were decorated in ancient Egypt. Already in our era in Europe, they began to decorate the Christmas tree for Christmas: with apples, cookies, and lit candles.

There is a version that the first New Year tree was placed in the square of the city of Céleste in Alsace in 1521. The first Christmas tree toy - a glass ball - appeared in Saxony in the 16th century.

The custom of celebrating the New Year was brought to Russia from Germany by Peter I; The first New Year holidays in Russia were organized, according to the royal decree, in 1700. The custom of celebrating Christmas with a Christmas tree was finally established in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1927, during the anti-religious campaign that began, Christmas ceased to be an official holiday, and the Christmas tree was declared a “religious relic.” However, before the onset of 1936, the tree was allowed again, but as a New Year's tree.

New Year tree in the light of Russian and Christian traditions

IN THE BEGINNING of the 1830s... [the fashion for the Christmas tree] was still spoken of as a “nice German idea,” and at the end of this decade the tree was already “coming into habit” in the houses of the St. Petersburg nobility... Only in the houses of the clergy and in the peasant hut is the tree it never took root in the 19th century. […]

Previously, this tree... did not enjoy much sympathy. The symbolism of death and the connection with the “lower world”, which were attributed to spruce in the Russian tradition, as well as the custom of placing Christmas trees on the roofs of taverns, did not at all foreshadow the changes in attitude towards it that occurred in the middle of the 19th century. […] In the process of assimilating foreign customs, the meaning that was attributed to the Christmas tree in the West was also assimilated - its connection with the theme of Christmas. […]

The process of “Christianization” of the Christmas tree did not go so smoothly in Russia. He met resistance from the Orthodox Church. The clergy saw in the new holiday a “demonic act,” a pagan custom that in no way resembled the birth of the Savior, and in addition, a custom of Western origin."

Features of the celebration

The largest capitals of Europe (Madrid, London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Warsaw, Kyiv) and ordinary cities install the main New Year's trees in the largest squares or tourist places. Leading experts and representatives of the fashion world participate in the process of developing the design for decorating such trees. Installing, decorating and lighting the main (central) New Year trees is a tradition in many cities that attracts tourists and citizens on New Year's Eve.

Christmas ball

Christmas tree (events)

The New Year tree also signifies a festive event - a concert (most often for children) at which the New Year is celebrated. For the first time, holidays for children in the Kremlin with this name began to be held during the reign of Stalin on the New Year, when (in the form of a secular New Year's holiday) a custom that had previously been persecuted by the Soviet authorities as “religious” was officially restored. For some period of time this tradition was interrupted for ideological reasons, but at the moment the main New Year tree is held.

Initially, the state organized New Year trees for a small (selected) circle of children. But over time, throughout Russia, on the eve of the New Year holiday and some time after (during the winter school holidays), many holiday concerts for children began to be held with the constant Father Frost and Snow Maiden, as well as with a performance, a round dance around the tree and gifts (in Soviet times scarce sweets). These performances are traditionally called the New Year Tree.

In Soviet times, New Year trees were organized by the state, party organizations, trade unions, and enterprises. Depending on the wealth and influence of the organizations sponsoring the holiday, the event varied in size and in the value of the holiday packages (which was extremely important in times of scarcity) that were given out at the event.

Nowadays, the New Year tree is organized everywhere by both commercial and government agencies, including for commercial purposes.

With the entry into the era of television, the New Year tree began to be called some holiday television programs broadcast during the New Year celebration.

Children's Christmas tree plan

Usually the Christmas tree is held in concert halls for children. First, positive heroes appear, who, as a rule, are waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus. But then negative ones appear, and because of them there is a danger that the New Year will not take place, because the garland on the Christmas tree will not light up, there will be no snow, or Santa Claus will not come, etc. In the end, the positive heroes defeat the negative ones ( which, as a rule, are corrected), Santa Claus arrives. After the performance, you can usually receive gifts with tickets - sets of chocolates in gift wrapping.

Christmas toys and decorations

The Christmas tree is usually decorated with balls made of thin glass and gold leaf, tinsel, decorative figures and garlands. In light of Christmas traditions, the main colors of decorations are red (the color of Santa's or Father Frost's costume), gold, silver and white (the color of snow).

New Year tree and ecology

To celebrate the New Year, hundreds of millions of Christmas trees are being cut down all over the world, and this inherent fun has begun to threaten the ecology of the planet. Therefore, various states are trying to strictly regulate the cutting down of fir trees for the New Year, and are also taking the following steps to protect the ecology of forests:

• Stimulating the production and sales of artificial trees - currently, artificial New Year trees are offered in a very realistic form and the buyer does not lose anything by buying such a New Year tree;
• Organization of Christmas tree forestry farms, in which spruce trees are grown specifically for the New Year (Christmas) holidays;
• Restrictions or a complete ban on visiting forests during the New Year and Christmas holidays and the imposition of serious fines for violations (including imprisonment);
• Restrictions or prohibitions on the free transportation of fir trees (in particular, without special documents);
• Stimulating the sales of live Christmas trees (in special containers - pots, tubs) with the organization of subsequent delivery of Christmas trees to forestry enterprises for planting trees in forests;
• A complete or partial ban on the installation of live trees on streets and squares (this is especially important, since there are very few large beautiful trees left in the world that are needed for installation in open spaces) and subsidies for the installation of large artificial trees, as well as New Year’s compositions.

Literature

• E. V. Dushechkina Russian Christmas tree: History, mythology, literature. - St. Petersburg: Norint, 2002. - ISBN 5-7711-0126-5

Notes

Links

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “New Year tree” is in other dictionaries:

In Novomoskovsk ... Wikipedia

Christmas tree- Dreaming of a New Year tree symbolizes joyful events. If in a dream you saw decorations being removed from a Christmas tree, then joy will be replaced by sadness. The Christmas tree is a dream for romantics who do not recognize close relationships without love... Large universal dream book

Genre music program Production Channel One Presenter(s) Ivan Urgant, Nikolay Fomenko, Alexander Tsekalo, Sergey Svetlakov, Garik Martirosyan, Valdis Pelsh, Yuri Galts ... Wikipedia

Many thousands of years ago the year began in autumn or spring. For example, if we take Ancient Rus', then here the beginning of the year fell on the month of March, and this celebration was more like a tribute to spring, warmth, sun and a future good harvest.

Over time, after the adoption of Christianity (which falls at the end of the 10th century), in Rus' the onset of the new year began to be celebrated in accordance with the Byzantine calendar, and this was the first day of the autumn month of September. And only in 1700, when Peter I, the great Russian Tsar, issued a new decree, which stipulated that the beginning of the year should fall on the second winter month, and all of Rus' began to celebrate it on January 1st. It was then that a proposal was received from the Tsar to decorate Moscow houses with spruce and pine branches and cones, and everyone was supposed to celebrate this day with a celebration with congratulations to all relatives and friends, dancing and shooting, launching rockets into the night sky.

And the king himself, on the night of December 31 to January 1, went out onto Red Square, holding a torch in his hands, and after the chimes, he launched the first rocket into the starry skies. And this was the first fireworks display in honor of the New Year. As for the spruce, about 300 years ago it was believed that a Christmas tree decorated for the New Year transforms negative forces into positive ones. Today everyone has forgotten about such powers, but the wonderful and beloved tradition of decorating a coniferous tree before the holiday has remained to this day.

The Christmas tree is what creates the magical atmosphere of the New Year.

An amazing Christmas tree outfit can transform any room and delight you with its appearance during long holiday days and evenings, leaving pleasant memories for the whole next year.

History of the New Year tree

The first written mention of spruce as a New Year's tree is found in the chronicle of the French province of Alsace for 1600. However, Germany is considered to be its homeland. There is a legend that the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve was started by the German reformer Martin Luther.

It was he, returning home before celebrating Christmas in 1513, who was fascinated and delighted by the beauty of the stars that strewn the vault of heaven so thickly that it seemed as if the crowns of the trees were sparkling with stars. At home, he put a Christmas tree on the table and decorated it with candles, and placed a star on the top in memory of the star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the cave where Jesus was born.

Why was spruce chosen as the New Year's tree? Let us remember that our ancestors treated trees as living beings. In Rus', such a particularly revered, cult tree was the birch. Since ancient times, the green, fragrant forest beauty spruce was considered the tree of peace by the ancient Germans. They believed that the good “spirit of the forests” lived in its branches - the defender of justice and all living things. It is no coincidence that before military battles, warriors gathered for advice at the spruce tree, hoping to receive its protection. And also because this tree personified immortality, fidelity, fearlessness, dignity, the mystery of unfading, eternal youth. Over time, the custom arose to appease the good spirits that hibernate in the evergreen branches of the spruce tree by decorating its fluffy branches with gifts. This custom was born in Germany, and later the Dutch and English borrowed the rite of veneration of spruce.

It is also known that in the 16th century in Central Europe on Christmas night it was customary to place 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, it was already common in German and Swiss houses to complement the decoration of the Christmas meal not only with deciduous trees, but also with coniferous trees. The main thing is that it is toy size. At first, small Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling along with candies and apples, and only later the custom of decorating one large Christmas tree in the guest room was established.

The 18th century chose spruce as the queen of the New Year's holiday, first in Germany, and later in many European countries. In Russia, the spruce took the first step towards securing the status of a ritual New Year tree according to the European model after the decree of Peter I “On the Celebration of the New Year” was issued. It prescribed: “...On large and well-traveled streets, for noble people and at houses of special spiritual and secular rank, in front of the gates, make some decorations from trees and branches of pine and juniper... and for poor people, each at least a tree or branch for the gate or place it over your temple...”

The decree, however, did not speak specifically about the Christmas tree, but about coniferous trees in general. In addition, it specifically instructed to “decorate” the street landscape, rather than the interior decoration of houses. The Tsar's decree, of course, prompted the establishment of the European custom of putting up a Christmas tree in Rus', but after the death of Peter the decree was half-forgotten, and the tree became a common New Year's attribute only a century later.

The European tradition of putting up Christmas trees on Christmas Eve was first supported by St. Petersburg Germans, who made up at least a third of the population of the northern capital. This custom was eventually adopted by the St. Petersburg nobility. Gradually, the popularity of the Christmas tree spread to other sectors of society. The mass fashion for the Christmas tree broke out in the 40s of the 19th century. This fact was noted in 1841 by the newspaper “Northern Bee”: “It is becoming our custom to celebrate Christmas Eve... by decorating the cherished Christmas tree with sweets and toys.”

The growing popularity of the New Year tree was facilitated by the commerce organized around it by enterprising St. Petersburg confectioners, who not only arranged the sale of Christmas trees for big money, but also came up with the accompanying confectionery surroundings - sweets and candles mounted on them.

At Gostiny Dvor, and later in the markets, Christmas tree markets were organized, “forest goods” were supplied to them by Russian peasants who saw their profit.

I. Shmelev colorfully spoke about such a Christmas sale in his famous book “The Summer of the Lord”: “Before Christmas, three days before, there was a forest of fir trees in the markets and squares. And what Christmas trees! There is as much of this goodness as you want in Russia... There used to be a forest on Teatralnaya Square. They are standing in the snow. And the snow starts to fall - you’ve lost your way! Men, in sheepskin coats, like in the forest. People walk and choose. Dogs in Christmas trees are like wolves, really. The fires are burning, warm up... You'll stroll through the fir trees until nightfall. And the frost is getting stronger. The sky is in smoke - purple, on fire. There is frost on the Christmas trees..."

For the first time, the dressed green beauty publicly lit up with festive lights in 1852 in St. Petersburg in the premises of the Ekateringofsky (now Moscow) station. And by the end of the 19th century, the New Year tree was firmly established, first in provincial cities, and later in landowners’ estates.

Soon, the public among nature conservationists raised their voices in defense of the spruce trees in the face of their growing deforestation. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there has been a fashion for artificial spruce trees, which were then a whim and a sign of the special chic of wealthy people. This fact was reflected in his multi-volume work “Life of the Russian People” by A.V. Tereshchenko, mentioning the St. Petersburg rich man who ordered an artificial Christmas tree 3.5 arshins (about 2.5 meters) high. Its upper part was entwined with ribbons and expensive material, decorated with expensive toys and women's jewelry, and the lower part was decorated with a variety of fruits and sweets.

Gradually, the tree becomes the center of the entire New Year holiday. It is decorated in advance, gifts are hung on it, and round dances are performed around it.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the New Year tree, as a bourgeois and religious relic of the past, fell into disgrace and disappeared from the public life of our compatriots for eighteen long years. Her happy return can be dated back to 1935, when the newspaper Pravda published the article “Let's organize a good Christmas tree for the children for the New Year.” With the expulsion and oblivion of the forest green beauty over, the tradition of erecting a Christmas tree as a ritual New Year tree began to gain strength again in Soviet history.

Nowadays, they strive to deliver and install a decorated Christmas tree even in those regions where it must be brought specially, for example, on ships plowing the ocean beyond the equator.

The first written mention of spruce as a New Year's tree is found in the chronicle of the French province of Alsace for 1600. However, Germany is considered to be its homeland. There is a legend that the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve was started by the German reformer Martin Luther.

It was he, returning home before celebrating Christmas in 1513, who was fascinated and delighted by the beauty of the stars that strewn the vault of heaven so thickly that it seemed as if the crowns of the trees were sparkling with stars. At home, he put a Christmas tree on the table and decorated it with candles, and placed a star on the top in memory of the star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the cave where Jesus was born.

Why was spruce chosen as the New Year's tree? Let us remember that our ancestors treated trees as living beings. In Rus', such a particularly revered, cult tree was the birch. Since ancient times, the green, fragrant forest beauty spruce was considered the tree of peace by the ancient Germans. They believed that the good “spirit of the forests” lived in its branches - the defender of justice and all living things. It is no coincidence that before military battles, warriors gathered for advice at the spruce tree, hoping to receive its protection. And also because this tree personified immortality, fidelity, fearlessness, dignity, the mystery of unfading, eternal youth. Over time, the custom arose to appease the good spirits that hibernate in the evergreen branches of the spruce tree by decorating its fluffy branches with gifts. This custom was born in Germany, and later the Dutch and English borrowed the rite of veneration of spruce.

It is also known that in the 16th century in Central Europe on Christmas night it was customary to place 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, it was already common in German and Swiss houses to complement the decoration of the Christmas meal not only with deciduous trees, but also with coniferous trees. The main thing is that it is toy size. At first, small Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling along with candies and apples, and only later the custom of decorating one large Christmas tree in the guest room was established.

The 18th century chose spruce as the queen of the New Year's holiday, first in Germany, and later in many European countries. In Russia, the spruce took the first step towards securing the status of a ritual New Year tree according to the European model after the decree of Peter I “On the Celebration of the New Year” was issued. It prescribed: “...On large and well-traveled streets, for noble people and at houses of special spiritual and secular rank, in front of the gates, make some decorations from trees and branches of pine and juniper... and for poor people, each at least a tree or branch for the gate or place it over your temple...”

The decree, however, did not speak specifically about the Christmas tree, but about coniferous trees in general. In addition, it specifically instructed to “decorate” the street landscape, rather than the interior decoration of houses. The Tsar's decree, of course, prompted the establishment of the European custom of putting up a Christmas tree in Rus', but after the death of Peter the decree was half-forgotten, and the tree became a common New Year's attribute only a century later.

The European tradition of putting up Christmas trees on Christmas Eve was first supported by St. Petersburg Germans, who made up at least a third of the population of the northern capital. This custom was eventually adopted by the St. Petersburg nobility. Gradually, the popularity of the Christmas tree spread to other sectors of society. The mass fashion for the Christmas tree broke out in the 40s of the 19th century. This fact was noted in 1841 by the newspaper “Northern Bee”: “It is becoming our custom to celebrate Christmas Eve... by decorating the cherished Christmas tree with sweets and toys.”

The growing popularity of the New Year tree was facilitated by the commerce organized around it by enterprising St. Petersburg confectioners, who not only arranged the sale of trees for big money, but also came up with an accompanying confectionery entourage - sweets and candles mounted on them.

At Gostiny Dvor, and later in the markets, Christmas tree markets were organized, “forest goods” were supplied to them by Russian peasants who saw their profit.

I. Shmelev colorfully described such a Christmas sale in his famous book “The Summer of the Lord”: “Before Christmas, three days before, there was a forest of fir trees in the markets and squares. And what Christmas trees! There is as much of this goodness as you want in Russia... There used to be a forest on Teatralnaya Square. They are standing in the snow. And the snow starts to fall - I’ve lost my way! Men, in sheepskin coats, like in the forest. People walk and choose. Dogs in Christmas trees are like wolves, really. The fires are burning, warm up... You'll stroll through the fir trees until nightfall. And the frost is getting stronger. The sky is in smoke - purple, on fire. There is frost on the Christmas trees..."

For the first time, the dressed green beauty publicly lit up with festive lights in 1852 in St. Petersburg in the premises of the Ekateringofsky (now Moscow) station. And by the end of the 19th century, the New Year tree was firmly established, first in provincial cities, and later in landowners’ estates.

Soon, the public among nature conservationists raised their voices in defense of the spruce trees in the face of their growing deforestation. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there has been a fashion for artificial spruce trees, which were then a whim and a sign of the special chic of wealthy people. This fact was reflected in his multi-volume work “Life of the Russian People” by A.V. Tereshchenko, mentioning the St. Petersburg rich man who ordered an artificial Christmas tree 3.5 arshins (about 2.5 meters) high. Its upper part was entwined with ribbons and expensive fabric, decorated with expensive toys and women's jewelry, and the lower part was decorated with a variety of fruits and sweets.

Gradually, the tree becomes the center of the entire New Year holiday. It is decorated in advance, gifts are hung on it, and round dances are performed around it.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the New Year tree, as a bourgeois and religious relic of the past, fell into disgrace and disappeared from the public life of our compatriots for eighteen long years. Her happy return can be dated back to 1935, when the newspaper Pravda published the article “Let's organize a good Christmas tree for the children for the New Year.” With the expulsion and oblivion of the forest green beauty over, the tradition of erecting a Christmas tree as a ritual New Year tree began to gain strength again in Soviet history.

Nowadays, they strive to deliver and install a decorated Christmas tree even in those regions where it must be brought specially, for example, on ships plowing the ocean beyond the equator.

New Year's kaleidoscope

Research by French sociologists has revealed that at the age of six all children believe in Santa Claus, by eight years only a quarter believe in Santa Claus, and among ten-year-olds there are practically no such children. This leads to a very important conclusion: make your children happy this New Year, because faith in miracles is so short-lived.

In England, the custom of using spruce as a New Year's tree to decorate the streets was established in the mid-19th century, after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arranged the first New Year's tree at Windsor Castle in 1840. These days, the country's main Christmas tree is installed in the very heart of London - in Trafalgar Square. Each year it is flown from the Norwegian capital Oslo as a sign of gratitude to the British for their assistance during World War II.

In France, the Christmas tree first appeared at the court of King Louis Philippe, who installed it at the request of his son’s wife, who was German by origin.

In 1877, Johannes Eckord from Germany invented the Christmas tree music box. The mechanism was wound up with a key, after which the tree began to slowly rotate to the rhythm of a waltz.

In the United States, a legend is still told that the first American president, George Washington, celebrated the New Year during the Revolutionary War with a Christmas tree brought from Germany by volunteer soldiers. The fourteenth President of the United States, Franklin Pierce, brought the tradition of a Christmas tree to the White House. And in 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree, which now takes place annually on the lawn in front of the White House.

Proud and independent Spaniards still call the New Year's tree the "German tree."

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the tallest New Year's tree was installed in December 1950 in the Northgate shopping center in Seattle (Washington). Its height was 67.36 meters. The role of the Christmas tree was played by fir.

And the world's largest living Christmas tree was decorated by residents of the Italian city of Gubbio. Almost 15 kilometers of electric garlands decorated a 65-meter spruce growing on the slope of Mount Ingino.

Spruce is a genus of coniferous evergreen trees of the pine family. In favorable conditions, it can reach 45 meters in height and 100 centimeters in trunk diameter. There are about 45 species of spruce. Among them are Finnish and Siberian, black and red, Japanese and Indian, Korean and Tien Shan, Canadian and Serbian.

Spruce trees differ in the nature of their growth, the type of branches, and the color of the coniferous cover. There are weeping, garland, serpentine, golden and silver, pyramidal and cypress spruce trees. Glen spruce, growing in the south of Sakhalin, the southern Kuril Islands and Japan, is protected by the state.

Spruce grows mainly in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. It is one of the main forest-forming species. The wood is soft, used in construction, for the production of the best grades of paper, and musical instruments. Resin, turpentine, rosin, and tar are extracted from spruce; they make artificial silk, leather, alcohols, plastics, etc. One cubic meter of spruce wood is approximately 600 suits and 4000 pairs of viscose socks.

The custom of decorating the New Year tree came to us from Germany. There is a legend that the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree was started by the German reformer Martin Luther. In 1513, returning home on Christmas Eve, Luther was fascinated and delighted by the beauty of the stars that strewn the sky so thickly that it seemed as if the crowns of the trees were sparkling with stars. At home, he put a Christmas tree on the table and decorated it with candles, and placed a star on top in memory of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the cave where Jesus was born.

It is also known that in the 16th century in Central Europe on Christmas night it was customary to place 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, it was already common in German and Swiss houses to complement the decoration of the Christmas meal not only with deciduous trees, but also with coniferous trees. The main thing is that it is toy size. At first, small Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling along with candies and apples, and only later the custom of decorating one large Christmas tree in the guest room was established.

In the 18th-19th centuries, the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree spread not only throughout Germany, but also appeared in England, Austria, the Czech Republic, Holland, and Denmark. In America, New Year trees also appeared thanks to German emigrants. At first, Christmas trees were decorated with candles, fruits and sweets; later, toys made of wax, cotton wool, cardboard, and then glass became a custom.

In Russia, the tradition of decorating the New Year tree appeared thanks to Peter I. Peter, who in his youth was visiting his German friends for Christmas, was pleasantly surprised to see a strange tree: it looked like a spruce, but instead of pine cones there were apples and candies on it. The future king was amused by this. Having become king, Peter I issued a decree to celebrate the New Year, as in enlightened Europe.

It prescribed: “...On large and well-traveled streets, for noble people and at houses of special spiritual and secular rank, in front of the gates, make some decorations from trees and branches of pine and juniper...”.

After the death of Peter, the decree was half forgotten, and the Christmas tree became a common New Year’s attribute only a century later.

In 1817, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich married the Prussian princess Charlotte, who was baptized in Orthodoxy under the name Alexandra. The princess convinced the court to accept the custom of decorating the New Year's table with bouquets of fir branches. In 1819, Nikolai Pavlovich, at the insistence of his wife, first put up a New Year's tree in the Anichkov Palace, and in 1852 in St. Petersburg, in the premises of the Ekaterininsky (now Moscow) station, a public Christmas tree was decorated for the first time.

A Christmas tree rush began in the cities: expensive Christmas tree decorations were ordered from Europe, and children's New Year's parties were held in rich houses.

The image of the Christmas tree fits well into the Christian religion. Christmas tree decorations, sweets and fruits symbolized the gifts brought to the little Christ. And the candles resembled the lighting of the monastery in which the Holy Family stayed. In addition, a decoration was always hung on the top of the tree, which symbolized the Star of Bethlehem, which rose with the birth of Jesus and showed the way to the Magi. As a result, the tree became a symbol of Christmas.

During the First World War, Emperor Nicholas II considered the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree to be “enemy” and categorically forbade it.

After the revolution the ban was lifted. The first public Christmas tree under Soviet rule was organized at the Mikhailovsky Artillery School on December 31, 1917 in St. Petersburg.

Since 1926, decorating a Christmas tree was already considered a crime: the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks called the custom of erecting a so-called Christmas tree anti-Soviet. In 1927, at the XV Party Congress, Stalin announced the weakening of anti-religious work among the population. An anti-religious campaign began. The 1929 party conference abolished the “Christian” Sunday: the country switched to a “six-day week”, and the celebration of Christmas was prohibited.

It is believed that the rehabilitation of the Christmas tree began with a small note in the Pravda newspaper, published on December 28, 1935. We were talking about the initiative to organize a nice Christmas tree for children for the New Year. The note was signed by the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Postyshev. Stalin agreed.

In 1935, the first New Year's children's party was organized with a dressed-up forest beauty. And on New Year's Eve 1938, a huge 15-meter tree with 10 thousand decorations and toys was erected in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, which has since become traditional and was later called the main tree of the country. Since 1976, the main Christmas tree began to be considered the Christmas tree in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses (since 1992 - the State Kremlin Palace). Instead of Christmas, the tree began to be put up for the New Year and was called New Year's.

At first, Christmas trees were decorated in the old fashioned way with sweets and fruits. Then the toys began to reflect the era: pioneers with bugles, faces of Politburo members. During the war - pistols, paratroopers, paramedic dogs, Santa Claus with a machine gun. They were replaced by toy cars, airships with the inscription “USSR”, snowflakes with a hammer and sickle. Under Khrushchev, toy tractors, ears of corn, and hockey players appeared. Then - cosmonauts, satellites, characters from Russian fairy tales.

Nowadays, many styles of decorating the Christmas tree have appeared. The most traditional of them is decorating the Christmas tree with colorful glass toys, light bulbs and tinsel. In the last century, natural trees began to be replaced by artificial ones, some of them very skillfully imitated living spruce trees and were decorated in the usual way, others were stylized and did not require decorations. A fashion arose for decorating New Year trees in a certain color - silver, gold, red, blue, and the minimalist style in Christmas tree decoration became firmly in fashion. Only garlands of multi-colored lights have remained an invariable attribute of Christmas tree decoration, but even here, light bulbs are already being replaced by LEDs.

With the New Year tree, the holiday will enter your home. Give free rein to your imagination, decorate the Christmas tree to your liking, using the tips from our website. Here are a variety of ideas for decorating a Christmas tree - find yours!

A Christmas tree with blue and silver decorations, decorated in a winter style, is ideal for an apartment with a modern design.

Replace the traditional emerald green with lemon green. This will allow you to use unusual New Year's decorations.

Looking at this Christmas tree, you will understand that there are no such thing as too many icicles. Agree: classic Christmas tree decorations are always magnificent and spectacular!

Homemade flags will give an elegant Christmas tree a cute, crafty look. If you make all the flags cream-colored, the eye will easily glide over it, and the overall impression of the tree will be enhanced.

Paper medallions and classic red decorations create a festive mood. This tree looks simple and homely.

If a classic Christmas tree isn't your style, or you want to add another, less traditional tree to your home, here's a great idea. Put up a chic French-style Christmas tree made of tinsel.

We love the fun and unusual color combination of the ornaments on this tree. Try using a combination of bubblegum pink and ultramarine when decorating your tree and your entire room.

Artful paper decorations and homemade balloon garlands will make this little tree one of a kind. Make your own Christmas tree decorations!

We love the golden Christmas tree. Cute metal embellishments and gold speckled burlap ribbon go well with the warm tones of the room.

If the Christmas tree is in a room decorated for New Year's, remember: everything is good in moderation. Just a few decorations on this tree can make a very good impression.

White lights and white bead decorations will add casual elegance to your Christmas tree.

Shades of sky blue stand out against the dark green of the Christmas tree. This is the perfect color combination for those who prefer a non-traditional jewelry style.

Decorate your Christmas tree with vintage but never outdated and colorful Christmas decorations.

A thin fir tree looks better if decorated with delicate paper decorations.

Big red decorations make a small Christmas tree make a big impression.

A natural Christmas tree covered with frosty snowflakes looks natural in a hunting lodge style living room.

Decorations in citrus hues make a white Christmas tree playful and fresh.

All the decorations on this shimmering tabletop Christmas tree are made from book pages.

A Christmas miracle will become a reality when you decorate your Christmas tree with lots of Santa Claus themed decorations.

Add a seaside memory to your Christmas tree with delicate white starfish and lemon-colored hydrangeas.

If your home is filled with tradition, embrace the spirit of the Christmas tree and try your best to decorate it the American way.

Do you like what you see on this tree? Decorate your Christmas tree the same way by framing your home photos.

We love how the minimalist yet colorful decorations on this tree blend with the retro style of the living room, reminding us of the past.

Decorate a neutral room with a rainbow of metallic ornaments on your Christmas tree. This gorgeous painting proves that it's worth the trouble to decorate a large tree.

Classic red and green ornaments on this tree are interspersed with mischievous fairytale elves.

Before you is a tall and majestic spruce tree, traditionally decorated.

This tree is beautifully lit with yellow lights.

Skates and mittens on this Christmas tree spread coziness throughout the room and promise winter fun.