Th Christmas Tr圣诞树的故事Although it is gnrally agrd that th Christmas tr in its currnt form cam from Grmany in th arly 19th cntury, th tradition of dcorating a tr to mark wintr clbrations dats back hundrds of yars to Roman tims, whn thy usd to dcorat vrgrn trs with small pics of mtal to clbrat Saturnalia.In mdival tims th 'Paradis Play' was prformd vry yar on 24 Dcmbr. This dpictd th cration of Man and th fall of Adam and v from th Gardn of dn and always includd an vrgrn hung with appls which rprsntd th appl tr of tmptation.Thr is a lgnd that St Bonifac, an nglish monk, cam upon a group of pagans gathrd around an oak tr who wr prparing to sacrific a child to th God Thor. In ordr to stop th sacrific, and sav th child's lif, St Bonifac is said to hav flld th tr with on blow of his fist. Latr on, a fir tr grw in plac of th oak and this, St Bonifac told th pagans, was th Tr of Lif and rprsntd th Christ Child.Lgnd also suggsts that, in th lat 16th cntury, Martin Luthr (th foundr of th Protstant rligion) was th first to dcorat an indoor tr with candls whn h attmptd to rcrat th stars shining ovr a forst of vrgrns.Th first mntion of dcoratd trs bing takn indoors cam in 1605 in Grmany - a country with a long Christmas tr history! Th trs wr initially dcoratd with fruit and swts togthr with hand mad objcts such as quilld snowflaks and stars. Grman Christmas Markts bgan to sll shapd gingrbrads and wax ornamnts which popl bought as souvnirs of th fair and took hom to hang on thir tr.Tinsl was also invntd in Grmany in about 1610. Up until fairly rcntly ral silvr was usd, which was pulld into wafr thin strips by spcial machins. This was durabl but tarnishd quickly and many xprimnts took plac to try and find an altrnativ - including a mix of lad and tin, which was too havy and kpt braking. It was only in th mid 20th cntury that a viabl altrnativ was found.Artificial trs wr invntd in th 1880's in a bid to try and stop som of th damag bing causd to ral trs du to popl lopping th tip off larg trs, thus prvnting th trs from growing any furthr. It got so bad in Grmany that laws had to b brought in to prvnt popl having mor than on tr.Princ Albrt, husband of Qun Victoria, is crditd with bing rsponsibl for introducing th custom of th Christmas tr to th British public by dcorating th first nglish Christmas tr at Windsor Castl in 1841 using candls, swts, fruit and gingrbrad.Th popularity of th Christmas tr grw in Britain during th first half of th 20th cntury, with trs bcoming biggr and mor laboratly dcoratd with blls, baubls and tinsl. Howvr, th onst of th Scond World War rsultd in a ban on cutting down trs for dcoration and popl rsortd to having small, artificial tabltop trs baring hom mad dcorations. Ths wr oftn takn down into th air raid shltrs whn th sirns soundd to provid a bit of Christmas chr!This all changd following th war, and larg trs wr rctd in many public placs to clbrat Christmas. Th most famous of ths is th tr in Trafalgar Squar, London which is an annual gift from th Norwgian govrnmnt to giv thanks for th hlp thy rcivd from Britain during th war.