The celebration of Christmas in the end of December is nowadays a very old tradition. This tradition also has many origins. Among these is the Old Norse Christmas celebration - which was prevailing in Scandinavia in the eleventh century - and was celebrated in connection to the mid-winter offering celebration. Moreover, we have the Christian celebration in memory of the birth of Jesus Christ. The earliest records of these celebrations are from the year three hundred and thirty three. Eight hundred years later this is merged with the Old Norse Christmas celebration.
Today Christmas is celebrated much more secularly by most, with few religious elements. The official Christmas holiday starts on the twenty fourth of December - Christmas Eve - and ends on the thirteenth of January, twenty days after Christmas. In recent years, however, Christmas celebrations tend to start earlier and are considered over with after the last holiday which is January sixth.
The story of the Christmas tree begins in Germany in the sixteenth century. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century the Christmas started being dressed with candles. The first Swedish Christmas trees were generally decorated with live candles and treats such as fruit and candy. Apples were often hanged on the branches were the candles were located to make them more parallel to the ground. It soon became more common of families to make their own decorations with paper and straw. From the years surrounding eighteen eighty and on, commercial Christmas tree decorations were readily available in larger Swedish cities, the finest of which were imported from Germany. The day that people in Sweden buy and dress their Christmas tree varies greatly from family to family but most have them dressed on the thirteenth of December and throws them out on January thirteenth.
In eighteen seventy, a Swedish church started lighting candles in a Christmas tree on every Sunday in advent. In the nineteen twenties this advent tree was substituted for an advent candle holder with four candles - one for each advent before Christmas. This still works as a countdown for Christmas and has been spread worldwide by IKEA.
Christmas in Sweden is mainly celebrated on Christmas Eve, as opposed to Christmas day in many other countries. It is a family holiday and has as such become quite a pain for people who are alone or other ways marginalized. Traditions vary from family to family, but common among all is that there is a lot of eating and gluttony going on. Some traditional dishes are Christmas ham, beetroot salad, a plethora of sausage dishes and an abundance of candies and cookies such as ginger bread and saffron cakes.
Around three o'clock, almost all children in Sweden gather around the television to watch the traditional Disney show From All of Us to All of You. This has been broadcasted every Christmas Eve on Swedish TV (SVT) since nineteen sixty. This usually gives adults the time to arrange with the Christmas gifts and Santa Claus suit to surprise the children with after the show is over. When SVT announced that they were cancelling the show due to high costs, a public outrage ensued forcing SVT to renegotiate a new contract with Disney. How expensive this contract is remains a well kept secret.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/history-articles/a-history-of-christmas-in-sweden-1498054.html
About the Author
Robb Stark is interested in history and looking forward to the Christmas holiday. For more information please visit julklappar or kläder online.
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