Celebrating a German Christmas at the Marquette Regional History Center

 

The Christmas tree, decorations and carolers are just a few of the many traditions associated with Christmas.  But surprisingly, a lot of the Christmas traditions we celebrate here in the U.S. did not originate here.  Christmas actually originated in Germany.

The Marquette Regional History Center celebrated a German Christmas this weekend, with songs, crafts, stories, traditional German holiday treats and the origination of the Christmas Tree.

Rosemary Michelin says, “Martin Luther was traveling back and forth and he saw a tree lit up at night and he brought that into his home and put beeswax candles on it and that became the very first Christmas tree.”

The actor portraying Saint Nicholas for the event says, “There is a lot of symbolism that is involved.  Such as many ornaments that we typically have comes from Germany, such as tinsel that was originally made out of silver.”

The Marquette Regional History Center has a variety of Christmas ornaments on display through the holiday season.