Variations of the Christmas Tree and Its Decorations from Around the World

As America is a melting pot of cultures, so are its holidays often a conglomerate of many ideas from many places. Those of us who are looking for a fresh decorative approach to the Christmas season can draw inspiration from other versions of the Christmas tree from around the world.

There is a popular legend in the Ukraine concerning a woman who was too poor to provide trimmings for her children's Christmas tree. Spiders spun webs around her tree during the night, and these turned to silver in the morning's sunlight - thus granting her heart's desire. Many Ukrainian trees, being inspired by this story, feature an artificial spider and web.

Norwegians traditionally decorate their trees with three candles to represent the Three Wise Men. They oftentimes complement this simple scene with figures of mischief-making elfin creatures that are known as the Jule-nissen. In Hungary, people associate Christmas with agricultural magic and symbolize this relationship with trimmings of nuts, popcorn strings, cornucopias and cookies. Belgian trees hearken back to ancient solstice rites with figurines of drums, horns and bells. They also feature gingerbread men and larger figures of the god Thor in red garb with a white beard.

Austrians use carved out fruits that are filled with tiny scenes of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. These decorations, called Kripps, give the Austrian tree a magical, storybook quality. Their Christmas balls are often decorated with pictures, also, and the whole tree is given a covering of artificial snow. In Czechoslovakia, one would be apt to find colorfully decorated eggshell ornaments, some made to resemble exotic fish. These trees would also likely be decorated with hanging colored pinwheels resembling twinkling stars or snowflakes.

The Christmas trees of Denmark are renowned for their dazzling mobiles, which are often comprised of paper snowflakes, hearts, stars and bells. Other decorations include wooden toy soldiers, red paper drums, woven paper baskets, and tiny Danish flags. Christmas trees of Finland traditionally feature Father Christmas, with his white beard and red stocking cap, in the company of golden paper birds, pinecones, miniature Finnish flags and garlands of tinsel.

The idea of bringing a small evergreen tree into the home and decorating it as part of the Christmas celebration was originally introduced to Americans by the Germans who came to fight during the Revolutionary War. In time, decorations evolved from simple paper ornaments, cranberry strings and other hanging fruits to the more lavish spectacle that we know today. Americans added their own distinctive innovations, like hanging electrical lights - courtesy of Thomas Edison's invention - that were also added to outdoor fixtures and community Christmas trees in the fields and parks.