Trees have been used in rituals and as decorations since ancient times, thus making the source of the modern Christmas tree open to debate. Many believe that it originated in Germany and associated with Saint Boniface. It is told that in medieval Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia), and in early modern Germany where German Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.
The first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, is German Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. The view he saw was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas. So he brought a tree into his house and decorated it with candles to represent the stars.
As Germans migrated, they took Christmas trees to other countries, notably England and then soon the tradition became worldwide.
The trees was traditionally decorated with roses made of colored paper, apples, wafers, tinsel, sweetmeats. Moravian Christians began to illuminate Christmas trees with candles, which were ultimately replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification. Today, there is a wide variety of traditional and modern ornaments, such as garlands, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehem. Edible items such as gingerbread, chocolate, and other sweets are also popular and are tied to or hung from the tree’s branches with ribbons.