My story begins in 1853 when my ancestors emigrated from Germany to the United States and settled in Fieldsboro, N.J. This was my great, great grandfather and his wife and their young son, 13 years old, my great-grandfather.
They came with German Christmas traditions and decoration ideas brought from an area just south of Berlin.
After World War II, this area became the Deutsch Democratic Republic (East Germany), a communist country, with very restrictive access in and particularly out.
The tradition (decoration) most notable and the subject of my story is what our family (my father, mother, and three sisters) called the “German Christmas Tree.”
My paternal grandfather made ours, and we would put it up every Christmas in addition to our traditional live, green Christmas tree.
My father, of course, had a similar tree when he was growing up, as did his father.
The German Tree was truly unique and amazing but wasn’t a tree at all. It was a pyramid style structure of wood and paper coverings that was about 5.5 feet tall. It had a center shaft that had fan blades at the top and a couple of round platforms in the middle of food or so apart on which were placed small figurines.
The four corner supports that formed the pyramid included three candleholders and candles each.
The candleholders were spaced equally and faced outward at slightly different angles. When the 12 candles were lit, the heat would create an updraft forcing the fan blades to rotate the center shaft that was supported by the pointed end of a nail placed on a penny in the middle of the bottom support platform.
The beauty of the candles, the magical motion and the intricate light patterns on the ceiling created by the candlelight and the moving fan blades were fascinating and mesmerizing. It was truly a very special and memorable part of our Christmas celebration. A picture of it is No. 1.
In 1963, I received my military commission and was assigned to an Army artillery unit for two years in what was then West Germany. I arrived in January 1964, and during the following Christmas season, there was a Christmas market in the Officers Club with a wide variety of Christmas gifts, many of German origin. It was here that I discovered a small tabletop German Christmas Tree.
With the exception of our tree, I had never seen anything like this before.
After examination, I discovered why. It was made in the DDR (East Germany) and was called a Christmas Pyramid and was an item not common to West Germany as yet and certainly not to the U.S.A.
I purchased one and sent it home to my parents as a Christmas gift. Since their passing, I now have this 53-year-old gift, and a picture is No. 2.
In 1967, my wife and I were married, and both of us enjoyed Christmas and its many traditions. After several years when the small German Christmas Pyramids finally became available from Germany, we purchased one and used it as part of our decorations each year, and still do.
A picture is included No. 3.
My parents continued to put up their German Christmas Tree every year, eventually becoming the only tree they used.
This continued until 2006 when my last surviving parent passed.
Their tree now resides with our son and helps him and his family celebrate Christmas.
In 1987, my family (wife, son, and daughter) and my parents took a memorable 3.5-week trip to Germany. Five days were spent in the DDR (East Germany) pursuing family history information and also visiting Erzgebirge (ore mountain) area where the Christmas Pyramid had its origins. Visiting museums revealed a multitude of different designs and some very large units that were electrified using electric candles and an electric motor to provide rotation.
As I approached retirement in 2000, I decided to finally make my own German Christmas Tree honoring the Christmas season, my ancestors and this long-standing family tradition that has continued for over 160 years in this country and even longer if we include Germany.
My design is different than our historic unit and is more like the ones seen in the Erzgebirge museums. It is a large tree about 7 feet high to the top of the star and consists of an eight-sided design with four tiers, four moving round platforms and 16 candles which power the movement.
The figures on the platform honor the season and consist of the star, angels, the Holy Family, the Wise Men and shepherd and German soldier nutcrackers.
We celebrate each year using both this tree and a conventional green (artificial) tree. A picture (No. 4) is included, and the tradition continues.
Lehman writes from Stone Harbor.
