National Christmas Tree
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The National Christmas Tree ( German national Christmas tree ), also National Community Christmas Tree , stands near the White House . Switching on the Christmas lights by the President of the United States at the beginning of the Christmas season is an annual television event and the start of a month-long festival, which as Pageant of Peace (about: Schaulaufen of peace) is known. The path to the National Christmas Tree, marked by smaller trees and other decorations, is known as the Pathway to Peace .
history
National Community Christmas Tree
The tradition of a National Christmas Tree in Washington, DC began in 1923 during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge . That year, Paul D. Moody, President of Middlebury College, Vermont, donated a 15-meter tall balsamic spruce from the state of Vermont , the home state of Coolidge. This tree was set up in Ellipse Park in front of the White House. On Christmas Eve morning, President Coolidge greeted a crowd and then turned on the Christmas lights. 2500 red, white, and green lightbulbs donated by the Washington Electric Company lit the tree.
In 1924, the National Christmas Tree became known as the National Community Christmas Tree and the lighting ceremony was relocated to Sherman Plaza near the east entrance of the White House. An 11 meter high spruce was planted there, donated by the American Forest Association. In 1927, a bronze plaque was placed at the base of the spruce, calling it the "National Community Christmas Tree". This tree was damaged by the pruning and the loading of the tree with the weight and heat generated by the lighting and was replaced in 1929 by a new spruce from New York. The second spruce was also damaged and in the spring of 1931 it was replaced by an 8-meter high spruce that came from a nursery owned by the Office for Public Buildings and Public Parks .
In 1932, covert speakers were installed in the tree to play Christmas carols . This started a tradition that has lasted for decades. The tree was also called the "Singing Tree" and attracted thousands of visitors.
During the landscaping of Sherman Plaza in 1934, the ceremony was relocated to Lafayette Park north of the White House. During the ceremony, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pointed to the statues of German, Polish and French Civil War Heroes in Lafayette Park as an example of the diversity of the American population, saying that the idea of Christmas knows no races or religions. Instead of using just one spruce, between 1934 and 1938 a 10 meter high spruce from North Carolina was alternately used, which stood next to the Andrew Jackson statue. New star-shaped lamps were purchased to decorate the tree. As some lamps were stolen during the week, it was necessary to build an octagonal fence to protect against vandalism in the next year.
In 1939 and 1940, the National Community Christmas Tree celebration returned to the larger ellipse south of the White House. Each year, a 11-meter tall Virginian juniper was planted from Virginia, which was transplanted back after the New Year break.
In 1941, two Caucasus spruce trees were planted 300 meters from the southern fence of the White House, to be used alternately. That year, Winston Churchill , the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, attended the lighting ceremony as he was in the White House for a Council of War meeting on Christmas Eve. Because of the restrictions caused by the Second World War, no new Christmas decorations were bought that year, but the old Christmas tree, which had been donated for the most part by school children from the Washington area, was used. For security reasons, the National Community Christmas Tree was not lit until the end of the war in 1945. The President only symbolically pressed the button , but President Harry S. Truman's “turning on” the lights was the starting signal for lighting thousands of trees in churches across the country. In 1946, the lighting ceremony, which had been featured on radio since 1925, became a television event.
From 1948 to 1951, President Truman spent his Christmas vacation at his home in Independence and remote-lit the National Community Christmas Tree. In 1952, he stayed at the White House for the lighting ceremony. He made a plea for world peace and prayed for the nation's enemies in the midst of the Korean War that ended months later.
Christmas Pageant of Peace
By 1953, radio and television broadcasting had developed into a very extensive program. The ceremony was watched by millions of people and the President's address was broadcast in 34 languages by Voice of America . As the event grew in popularity, local business people from the Washington, DC area became involved and expanded the event on a grand scale - the Christmas Pageant of Peace began in 1954. The festivities around the Illumination of the National Community Christmas Tree, which first began not on Christmas Eve in 1954, included various elements such as: B. the life-size representation of the crib, a large stage, a children's corner, and in some years living reindeer from the Washington National Zoo . Each year from 1954 to 1972, a freshly felled tree from different states was brought to the White House and placed on the ellipse for the duration of the festivities. The lighting ceremony was followed by weeks of daily and nightly Christmas presentations through January 1st. The path to peace that led to the National Community Christmas Tree was lined with smaller Christmas trees that represented the various states and territories.
After trees that had been felled since 1954, a tree that had been planted was used again in 1973 as part of the celebrations. This was a response to hundreds of letters of protest from individuals and environmental groups who campaign for the preservation of nature. The 13-meter tall blue spruce from Pennsylvania , donated by the National Arborists Association, was planted in the ellipse earlier this year. For reasons of energy saving, the tree was provided with Christmas decorations for the first time in 1973, which does not require any energy, e.g. B. balls and garlands. As a result, the branches were exposed to less weight and heat, which served to protect the tree. Even so, the tree died within a few years and was replaced in 1977 by a 10-meter high spruce from Maryland. This was destroyed by a storm just a few months later. A 9-meter-high silver spruce from York, Pennsylvania was planted on the ellipse in 1978 and has served as the National Christmas Tree ever since.
In 1979 the National Christmas Tree was only partially lit. When President Jimmy Carter had his daughter Amy turn on the lights on the tree on December 13, only the star on the top of the big tree was lit and only small blue lights illuminated the trees along the Path of Peace. The President announced that the National Christmas Tree, a national symbol, would remain dark until the American hostages were released in Iran.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb, General Electric had staged the theme "Joy and Light" with the help of changing lighting and visual effects and a white tree. Even so, the tree remained unlit. In 1980, President Carter lit the National Christmas Tree for only 417 seconds, each second symbolizing a day of captivity for American hostages in Iran. When the hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the tree was quickly decorated for their return home.
Due to security concerns following the Reagan assassination in March 1981, President Ronald Reagan never turned on the lights on the National Christmas Tree from the ellipse, but rather with a remote control from inside the White House. Only President George HW Bush reintroduced the tradition in 1989.
In 1995 the National Christmas Tree was first lit with solar energy . From 2007 LED Christmas lighting was used. The poinsettia on the top of the tree was also converted to use LEDs.
See also
Web links
- Illumination of the National Christmas Tree , official website presented by the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service
- History of the National Christmas Tree
Coordinates: 38 ° 53 ′ 41.5 ″ N , 77 ° 2 ′ 10.7 ″ W.