MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. The Kremlin in Moscow traditionally hosts the main Russian New Year’s/Christmas tree - a towering and iconic symbol of the winter holidays. For 2019, it’s a 90-year-old tree, standing 25 meters tall that is placed in the heart of the Russian capital. On this occasion, TASS has prepared an overview of the Christmas tree tradition in Russia and its history through the ages.
A tradition is born
The first Christmas trees appeared in Russia during the Time of Troubles (interregnum period in 1598-1613) after the Polish intervention and occupation. However, this tradition initially failed to take off and take hold. Christmas trees were only placed in the Czar’s chambers and in noblemen residences. When Peter the Great (1672-1725) ascended to throne in 1682, conifers turn into a more frequent occurrence. They were mounted before holidays in Moscow: in the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square, the Old Merchant Court and other places. The tradition was borrowed from the Europeans who resided in what was then known as the German Quarter.
On December 29 and 30 (December 19 and 20, according to the old Julian calendar), 1699, Peter the Great signed and issued two edicts to introduce a new chronology system, making January 1 the official date to celebrate New Year’s Day, following the example of European Christian states. Russia previously used the Byzantine chronology system (coincides with the Julian calendar) that marked its year one on the supposed date of creation of the world, back then - 5508 - while the New Year was celebrated on September 1. At the same time, Peter the Great chose not to introduce the Gregorian calendar that European countries opted for in the 16th century.
Moscow’s main streets as well as the residencies of the nobility were ordered to be decorated with spruce trees and branches, while other Muscovites were told to place "a tree or a branch over gates or over their houses." The New Year celebration lasted seven days. City dwellers were to congratulate each other, burn fires in the streets, shoot off rifles and muskets. Red Square where the main celebration took place saw fireworks as well as canon and rifle fire.
Christmas trees were decorated and put up for Christmas on December 25, and stood until the New Year. Initially, Christmas decorations included sweets and fruit, ribbons and candles, while appropriate ornaments appeared later and were traditionally related to Christianity. Trees were decked out with bells, angel and shepherd figurines made out of porcelain, cotton or papier-mache. Stars, candles and lanterns were supposed to remind people of the Star of Bethlehem and fires shining for those travelling to adore the newborn Christ Child. Presents for family members (magi gifts) were hidden under the trees, while 12 dishes adorned Christmas tables (equal to the number of Apostles). Later, glass Christmas decorations started making their way to Russia from Germany, and a Russian glass ball and bead factory was opened in late 19th century. Around the same time, Russia followed the European example of producing artificial Christmas trees made out of fabric.
The first public Christmas tree was erected for Christmas in 1852 in St. Petersburg’s Moscow Railway Station. Later, public trees were mounted in other public spaces. Aristocrats, merchants and owners of factories also staged New Year’s charity events for kids. Conifers for the Russian royal family were traditionally decorated at the Great Gatchina Palace in the St. Petersburg suburbs.
The tradition came to an abrupt halt during the First World War. In 1915, German captives decided to celebrate Christmas in a hospital where they were transferred to, which prompted a lot of negativity in Russian press. As a result, Nicholas II banned Christmas trees.
Tradition revived in Soviet times
After the October Revolution in 1917, the ban was lifted and on December 31 that year, the first public New Year’s celebration was launched. There was, however, no celebration in the Kremlin because it suffered damage from shelling in November 1917.
In later years, the tradition of organizing Christmas and New Year’s holidays was preserved. The children of state and party officials enjoyed holiday celebrations in the Grand Kremlin Palace. However, in the mid-1920s the country saw a large-scale anti-religious crusade. On September 24, 1929, the Council of People’s Commissars outlawed Christmas celebrations. Official New Year’s festivities followed suit as "bourgeois" and "priestly holdovers."
On December 28, 1935, the Pravda newspaper published an article by Pavel Postyshev, a senior Soviet politician, entitled "Let’s organize a great New Year’s tree for the kids on New Year’s Eve!" where the author urged to end the "wrongful condemnation" of the holiday tree: and called on authorities to hold collective festivities for the children.
On December 23, 1947, the First of January was declared an official holiday by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
Since 1954, New Year’s celebrations for kids and teens had been held in St. George’s Hall in the Grand Kremlin Palace. However, as of 1962, it has been held in the State Kremlin Palace. It was at that time that people started referring to the celebration in the Kremlin as "the main New Year’s celebration in the country." Moscow trade unions were engaged in organizing it. Since the mid-1960s, the celebration has been held in the form of a fairytale play.
Holiday tree decorations
In the 1930s, Soviet factories fully supplied the country with holiday tree decorations. However, hand-painted glass ornaments made out of blown glass were expensive and difficult to afford. Therefore, they were also made out of carton and wood, white paper garlands, crackers, painted pinecones, and other materials. Apart from traditional figurines of animals, birds, fairytale characters, snowflakes and flowers, holiday trees also boasted decorations depicting Lenin and Stalin, figurines of polar explorers, ‘Pioneer’ kids with bugles, airships, hang gliders, tanks, tractors, sheaves of wheat, corncobs, satellites, rockets, etc. In the 1960s, plastics revolutionized the trees’ decoration, making ornaments much cheaper and streamlining production.
Kremlin’s New Year tree
Since December 1996, the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square has been hosting living holiday trees for every year-end festival. In 2001-2004, severe winter temperatures prompted a substitution of the living tree for an artificial one. New Year’s trees were twice delivered from the residence of Russia’s Ded Moroz (Father Frost, similar to Santa Claus) in the town of Veliky Ustyug, in the Vologda Region. However, the long haul had a bad effect on the condition of the conifers, so a decision was made to cut one down in the Moscow Region. The search for an appropriate tree begins in late summer using space and helicopter footage data. A special presidential commission along with many other officials and culture and art specialists pick trees that will adorn the Kremlin.
To be chosen, a spruce must be big, visually appealing and resilient to changing weather conditions. A tree’s location and transport accessibility are also taken into account. New Year’s trees growing along roadsides are normally chosen to simplify transportation and save nearby trees from any harm. Specialists look for the following parameters: the tree must be at least 95 years old, and around 30 meters tall. In addition, the log must be 60-70 centimeters in diameter, and have 10-15 meters in branch span. Moreover, trees should be pyramidal in shape, have an even trunk, and thick, deep-and-equally-colored branches strong enough to withstand drastic weather changes.
The selected tree in 2018 was 100 years old, 27 meters tall and 60 centimeters wide.
A special road train delivers the spruce through the Spasskaya Tower gates opened only on the most important of occasions. Traditionally, kids from large families, orphans, military cadets and others help to decorate the tree.
When the holidays are over, the tree is dismantled, its wood is used to craft souvenirs, produce ice hockey sticks for children’s teams, and for other creative endeavors. In January 2017, its seeds were gathered for the first time and sent to a specialized orchard where the spruce trees are planted. In 2018, conifer wood was used to make Ded Moroz’s staff.
Kremlin’s holiday event for kids
The traditional children’s New Year Celebration usually takes place in the State Kremlin Palace. Annually, it is seen by more than 5,000 children, and among them are winners of competitions and contests, orphans, children from boarding schools and kids whose parents who died in conflict zones and others. In 2014, the Kremlin welcomed kids from Crimea for the first time, while children from Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Donbass were invited to the 2015 celebration. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed organizers to invite kids of Russian diplomats declared personae non gratae by the US on December 29, 2016 and expelled from Washington and San Francisco. Families of US diplomats accredited in Russia received their invitation along with them. In December 2018, more than 5,000 schoolchildren from all over Russia travelled to the Kremlin. On December 26, Putin personally met them in the Cathedral Square where the Christmas tree was mounted.