This tradition started in Germany. One evening St. Boniface was walking through the forest and came upon a group of pagens worshiping a great oak tree. St. Boniface walked into the middle of them and cut the tree down. From the roots of the oak tree sprang up an evergreen. St. Boniface told the pagans that this was the tree of Christ because it was eternal like Christ. It was many years later that the decorating of the tree came about. Martin Luther, in Germany, was the one who started it. One Christmas eve he brought in an evergreen tree to his daughters nursery for her to enjoy because the weather was to bad for her to go outside. He decorated it with candles and through the years it involved into the trees we have today.
We can trace some of our most beloved holiday lore and traditions to Germany. In no other country is Christmas more elaborately and universally celebrated. The Christmas season officially begins with the beginning of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas Day. The tradition of the Advent wreath, a circle of greenery in which four candles are set, originated with the German Lutherans. One candle is lit the first Sunday of Advent, two are lit the second Sunday, and so on until the fourth Sunday. A large white candle in the center is lit on Christmas Day. The Advent calendar, an elaborate calendar with windows used to count down the days until Christmas, also originated in Germany.
The Christmas Tree owes its widespread popularity to Germany. In the Middle Ages The Germans would put on a mystery play each December 24th, the feast day of Adam and Eve. The plays invariably featured a decorated evergreen which represented the Tree of Life from which Adam and Eve ate and as a result were banished from the Garden of Eden. Over the centuries the plays and associated festivities strayed from their religious origins and the Church ceased to sponsor them. But the people continued to set up and decorate a tree in their home every year at Christmas. In 1880 glassmakers in Thuringia discovered how to make blown glass balls and bells, which became the decorations used to trim Christmas trees all over the world.
In many German cities special festive markets with decorated booths and stalls are set up for weeks before Christmas. The most famous of these is the Christmas Market in Nuremberg which has a history of more than 400 years and is attended by people from many countries. From the main market square visitors can enjoy a splendid view of the famous Schner Brunnen ("beautiful fountain") and the 600-year-old Franenkirche ("Our Lady's Church"). Only items related to Christmas are permitted to be offered for sale. The festival lasts three weeks, from early December until Christmas.
St. Nicholas has traditionally brought gifts to German children on the eve of his feast day, December 6. He traveled with a dark-faced companion, often a frightening figure, known variously as Krampus, Pelzebock, Pelznickel, Hans Muff, Bartel, or Gumphinkel. Most commonly the companion was called Knecht Ruprecht, and carried and bundle of switches. After the reformation authorities frowned upon the idea of having a character representing the bishop/saint distributing gifts. As a result St. Nick's modern incarnation Santa Claus was born, complete with long white beard, red suit, and sleigh. St. Nick is known by various names in different regions of Germany including Klaasbuur, Burklaas, Rauklas, Bullerklaas, and Sunnercla. In eastern Germany, where the Santa figure remains more connected with his pagan past, he is called Ash Man, Shaggy Goat, or Rider. Today, he is increasingly known as Father Christmas throughout Germany and appears not on St. Nicholas Day Eve, but on Christmas Eve.
In Germany, as in many European countries, the highpoint of the Christmas season is Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. A midnight service is celebrated by both Catholics and Protestants.
Thankyou.