Editing Christmas tree (section)

=====''Germany''=====
[[File:Die Gartenlaube (1871) 109.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|A German Christmas tree in a room at Versailles turned into a military hospital]]

By the early 18th century, the custom had become common in towns of the upper Rhineland, but it had not yet spread to rural areas. Wax candles, expensive items at the time, are found in attestations from the late 18th century.

Along the [[Lower Rhine region|Lower Rhine]], an area of Roman Catholic majority, the Christmas tree was largely regarded as a Protestant custom. As a result, it remained confined to the upper Rhineland for a relatively long period of time. The custom did eventually gain wider acceptance beginning around 1815 by way of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] officials who emigrated there following the [[Congress of Vienna]].

In the 19th century, the Christmas tree was taken to be an expression of [[Culture of Germany|German culture]] and of {{lang|de|[[Gemütlichkeit]]}}, especially among emigrants overseas.<ref>{{cite book |first=Johannes |last=Marbach |title=Die heilige Weihnachtszeit nach Bedeutung, Geschichte, Sitten und Symbolen|language=de |trans-title=The holy Christmas season for meaning, history, customs and symbols |year=1859 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXhEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA416 |page=416 |quote=Was ist auch eine deutsche Christenfamilie am Christabend ohne Christbäumchen? Zumal in der Fremde, unter kaltherzigen Engländern und frivolen Franzosen, unter den amerikanischen Indianern und den Papuas von Australien. Entbehren doch die nichtdeutschen Christen neben dem Christbäumchen noch so viele Züge deutscher Gemüthlichkeit. [English: What would a German Christian family do on Christmas Eve without a Christmas tree? Especially in foreign lands, among cold-hearted Englishmen and frivolous Frenchmen, among the American Indians and the Papua of Australia. Apart from the Christmas tree, the non-German Christians suffer from a lack of a great many traits of German 'Gemütlichkeit'.] }}</ref>

A decisive factor in winning general popularity was the German army's decision to place Christmas trees in its barracks and military hospitals during the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. Only at the start of the 20th century did Christmas trees appear inside churches, this time in a new brightly lit form.<ref name="Hermelink">{{cite book |first=Jan |last=Hermelink |chapter=Weihnachtsgottesdienst |trans-chapter=Christmas worship |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOrt4xXGSKcC&pg=PA290 |editor-first=Christian |editor-last=Grethlein |editor-first2=Günter |editor-last2=Ruddat |title=Liturgisches Kompendium|language=de |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |year=2003 |isbn=978-3-525-57211-5 |page=290 }}</ref>