Der Christbaum in den oberrheinischen Städten des 16./17. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

The birthplace of the Christmas tree is the territory of the Aleman people, thus the territories of Baden and Alsace along the upper part of the river Rhine. Its direct predecessors are the maypole trees during winter and Christmas time, thus the branches of pine trees with which the houses, economical and agricultural buildings, fences and wells along the upper Rhine were decorated inside and out during the midwinter festivities (Christmas, New Year etc). According to a medieval legal principle in upper Alsace, the peasants had the right to bring a cartful of wood (branches of pine trees in the first place) on Christmas Eve from the forest. Written legal principles and customs recording this habit can be found in many cities of upper Alsace: Sundhofen (around 1300), Bergheim (1369), Germar (14th century).The habit of decorating houses with evergreen branches at Christmas is in Strasbourg and Freiburg 500 years old. The cities of the Alsace region have guarded their forests in the days before the midwinte...