Early Christmas trees in Salzburg, Austria.

I woke up in early October to a sound of great cheering as a group of builders were putting a decorated Fir tree on top of a building that they had just completed.

Why are they celebrating Christmas so early?

I was told that the tree has nothing to do with Christmas, but it is an ancient ritual of “completion” of a building in Salzburg.

Some traditions hoist the tree once the highest point has been reached in the construction of a building.

Once the roof is completed and there have been no casualties the Fir tree is hoisted to the top, so all the village and towns folk know that the construction has been successfully completed.

The trees were decorated so that all the villagers would be aware that a completion party of celebrations were about to begin.

What a great way to let everyone know about accomplishments and the celebrations that would follow.

It was also thought that the ritual would bring good luck to the future occupants of the building.

The tradition originates from Scandinavia in 700 A.D, and the trees were called “Topping trees”.

All structures at that time were made from wood which  required trees to be cut down to produce the timber for construction. The placing of a tree on top of a newly constructed building was a way of appeasing the forest dwelling spirits who lost their homes in the  trees as the trees were cut down to provide timber for the construction of new homes.

It is said that “Topping trees” in America became popular because  that  Native Americans believed that no building should be taller than any tree. In a land where the sky is the limit, one way to get around this was to erect a tree on top of the building after completion thus keeping,  tongue in cheek, to the ancient tradition of  buildings not being taller than trees.

In some parts of the world the trees got replaced by flags but I still prefer the old traditional way of hoisting  a decorated tree with lights on to celebrate the completion of a construction.

Share this post

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Reddit
Tumblr
VK
WhatsApp
Andrej Djordjevitch

Andrej Djordjevitch

Andrej Djordjevitch is a Transformational Spiritual Life Coach, Spiritual Teacher and Trance Medium offering online courses and in person courses

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

twenty + 7 =

Mentorships for 2023
The World of Trance Mentorship - Andrej Djordjevitch
Online Courses
Online Courses
In Person Courses
Progressive Mentorship Andrej Djordjevitch
Trance Healing
Trance Healing Andrej Djordjevitch

Favourite Blog Post

Related Posts

Christmas in Austria

Christmas in Austria Austria is one of the most magical places that is full of high mountains and deep lakes. But for me the magic of Austria comes alive at Christmas. Having spent most of my life in South Wales

Read More »

Andrej’s Travels

I have had many opportunities to teach around the world. Normally I fly into a location the day before, book into the hotel, teach the seminar and fly back home the next day. I have been asked on several occasions

Read More »