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How Do People Decorate For Christmas In France

With its bright lights and dazzling ornaments, the Christmas tree is one of the symbols of Christmas. In Alsace, the tradition of putting up a decorated tree at Christmas dates dorsum to the 16th century at least. The tradition reached the court of the King of French republic in the 18th century. It landed in French homes in the first half of the 20th century. In this commodity, you'll find a few French Christmas tree decorations that make the vacation season such an heady time…

Christmas tree decorations: a bit of history

The earliest known Christmas tree ornaments were natural edible products such as apples and nuts. The red apples represented the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden (the symbol of temptation).

Cookies resembling wafers symbolised redemption. Progressively people used other ornaments such every bit homemade newspaper flowers, candies, dried cakes in the shape of characters, pine cones but too ribbons.

Many offset decorations took the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers.

Fruit on a Christmas tree, Maisons-Laffitte © French Moments
Fruit on a Christmas tree © French Moments

In 1847 a glassblower from the town of Lauscha in the German region of Thuringen had the idea to imitate the shapes of the fruits using his glass-blowing instruments. Thus he created the first glass baubles.

Legend has information technology that eleven years afterwards, in 1858, a severe drought led to a poor harvest with no apples and other fruits in the Northern Vosges. Consequently, there was a shortage of Christmas decorations for the tree. A glassblower from the Lorraine village of Goetzenbruck virtually Meisenthal thought of the same idea, that is to create glass Christmas tree ornaments. The Meisenthal glasswork is still reputed today for the quality of its products.

Meisenthal, Christmas in Sélestat © French Moments
The 2018 Meisenthal cristal bauble (an artichoke) on display in the crypt of St Georges Church, Sélestat © French Moments

Christmas tree decorations

Strasbourg Christmas market: place Broglie © French Moments
Christmas ornaments, place Broglie © French Moments

Today, in that location is an all-encompassing range of ornaments on the stalls of Christmas markets and in department stores. The most expensive ones (and almost fragile) are fabricated of glass, while the cheapest are in plastic. Chocolate ornaments wrapped in foil are besides extremely popular in France. Needless to say, children savor them very much!

Christmas Baubles – Boules de Noël

The baubles imitate the shape of the fruits that had originally been put on the tree from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Lametta (Cheveux d'ange)

Christmas tree decorations © French Moments
Silver Lametta on the tree © French Moments

In the 15th century, craftsmen in Lyon came up with this ancient decoration: 'lametta'. Its metal fringes evoke angels' hair. They illuminate the fir tree with their silver or aureate. Fable has it that soldiers' gallons inspired the glittering ornament. French people called them 'cheveux d'ange'.

Gold lametta © French Moments
Gilt lametta © French Moments

Tinsel (Guirlande)

Originating in Deutschland in around 1610, tinsel used to be made of real argent. But as argent tarnishes over time, bogus tinsel – every bit nosotros know them – later appeared. In Alsace, it is quite stylish to decorate Christmas trees with pearl tinsel.

More recently fairy lights take become the norm. Whether white or multicoloured they animate the tree.

Candles (Bougies)

Christmas tree ornaments © French Moments
Christmas tree ornaments © French Moments

Co-ordinate to tradition, 12 candles must be lit on each Christmas tree, one representing each month of the year.

In Germany, between the 17th and 19th centuries, candles illuminated the trees. However the wax was likewise expensive, thus people came upwards with other techniques to recreate this lighting effect.

Sometimes flexible candles were knotted around the branches or nutshells were filled with oil. Since then, the system has evolved somewhat and iron wire or clips are used to attach decorations to trees. In guild to limit the risk of fires, imitation electrical candles have almost entirely replaced wax ones.

The tiptop of a Christmas tree: Christmas tree toppers

Nowadays, in addition to the usual baubles and tinsel, we traditionally place a golden star on the top of the tree, symbolising the Bethlehem star. The star also represents the 1 that the three Wise Men followed to find the baby Jesus. The star is also a symbol of calorie-free. Alternatively, French Christmas trees can sometimes be topped with a 'cimier oriental' or 'pic' (finial) or an angel.

At the top of a Christmas tree are:

Christmas Tree Tops © French Moments
Christmas Tree Tops © French Moments
  • a Christmas Star (une étoile)
  • a finial (united nations Cimier oriental / un pic) or
  • a Christmas angel (un ange)

Did you know? You can likewise read this article in French on our weblog Monday Grand-Est!

Advice for a successfully decorated tree

The position of a Christmas tree in a room needs to be carefully considered. It needs to stand in a stable place, where passing people won't brush against it. Information technology is essential to ensure it is not placed too shut to a source of oestrus and to be extra careful if you intend to use real candles to decorate it.

When decorating your Christmas tree:

Christmas Tree Decorating Stages © French Moments
Christmas Tree Decorating Stages © French Moments

The lights should exist arranged on the branches about the base of the tree. Weave strings of lights along the branches towards the inside of the tree then motion dorsum to the outer edges of the branches and upward.

Try to avoid hanging your ornaments correct on the tips of the branches every bit they may autumn, due to their weight. Placing ornaments and other decorations 'inside' your tree (that is, towards the inside of the branches) add depth and make information technology ravishing.

Christmas tree decorations © French Moments
Decorating the Tree © French Moments

Place your ornaments without as well much order and symmetry, and suit them evenly around the tree, varying their shapes and colours. Place the larger ornaments towards the lesser, the smaller towards the top.

Christmas tree decorations © French Moments
Christmas tree decorations © French Moments

A tasteful tree is generally non multi-coloured. Limit your primary decoration colours to just two or three: information technology could be a mix of gold, greenish and red (the traditional colours of Christmas), pink and gold or blue and silver, for example.

If you believe tinsel adds an unnecessary weight or thickness to your tree, you can always adopt the Alsatian/German tradition and replace it with 'Cheveux d'Ange'.

French Christmas Trees Video

A photo montage of Christmas copse in French republic (Paris and North-East):

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Christmas tree in France © French Moments

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How Do People Decorate For Christmas In France,

Source: https://frenchmoments.eu/christmas-tree-decorations-in-france/

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