Opinion
Decking the halls starts earlier every year
by Martin Rupf
O Christmas tree
5.12.2019
Translation: machine translated
The Christmas tree is an emotional topic. Big, small, artificial, real, none at all - every family insists on a different tradition. Even cats get involved.
For the Teufelberger family, the Christmas tree is the centrepiece of the living room at home. For my father, there is only one true variety: the Nordmann fir. He leaves all specimens under two metres at the neighbourhood vendor, much to the regret of his wife. She would be perfectly happy with a puny little tree, having fought against the custom in her youth. Keyword forest dieback. Once placed in the parlour, it is both an eye-catcher and a disruptive factor. It brings with it a certain contemplative and peaceful atmosphere, which, thanks to needles, is destroyed again by increased suction. It is also ideal as a tripping hazard. This can quickly damage one of the delicate Christmas tree baubles, which in turn leads to yet another hoover job. Nevertheless, we all like it because it's just part of it.
Plastic and tinsel
But there are other types. What makes my father sick to his stomach is the perfect solution for others: the plastic tree. Colleague Natalie only knew real trees from Christmas films for a long time.
"The specimen that adorned our living room was in stark contrast to what I saw in the films: a real tree, wrapped from trunk to top in a sophisticated colour scheme and adorned with exquisite decorations. The candles? So real that the fire brigade is waiting round the corner with a hose. I often wished there were pine needles next to my presents. Instead, there were cables and a timer that signalled to the colourful little lights when they were to spray their disco flair in combination with the generous sprinkling of tinsel. Today we have a real tree - I did a lot of convincing. Only the idea of candles hasn't quite caught on with my parents yet."
Even Pia is unfamiliar with the scent of real pine needles.
"Our Christmas tree was actually one of the first to be made of plastic. Tinsel was a must. That's why we didn't have candles, but a string of lights and always a spike on the top of the tree. Although the fake tree should have had a perfect shape, it was slightly crooked precisely because of this tip. The tree was classically decorated with handmade baubles and a maximum of two colours - either warm colours (gold and red) or cool colours (blue and silver). Only the decorations my brother and I made ourselves made it onto the tree."
Big, bigger, Christmas tree
Michael's childhood memories, on the other hand, sound more like my own again. The Restins didn't have a measly tree in their house either.
"The presents belong under the tree. So we need a big tree. My opinion. Or rather, my romanticised memories from childhood, when Dad had to heave the biggest possible Nordmann fir into the living room. My sister and I were only really satisfied when the top had to be trimmed slightly so that the straw star would still fit under the blanket. There, discreetly decorated with Christmas tree baubles, wooden and straw pendants, it was left to needle away without any tinsel before it was allowed to fly off the balcony on 10 January at the earliest. A tree up to the ceiling that is allowed to stand almost until it decays. That's the gold standard I've been used to for decades."
This standard has not (yet) caught on with Michael's own family.
"In the meantime, our little fir tree looks sadder, a room-high tree doesn't fit in the family trolley on the way to a skiing holiday. And not in the holiday flat either. That's why I've made do with a "fir tree to go" in recent years. First it was a small tree in a pot, which was even allowed to experience several Christmases. Then it was just a decorated piece of wood that can be fanned out and looks a bit like a clothes rack. That's why this year I ordered the biggest wooden skeleton that I could find in our shop. It's bigger than my children, but it's still a makeshift solution. There may not have been more tinsel in the past, but there was a lot more tree."
Attention, cat
Raphael has a completely different problem that has nothing to do with size or material. His focus is on the branches.
"The fir tree can only have branches from a height of around 1.5 metres, everything else has to go - because otherwise the cat will not only be up to mischief under the tree, but also in it. My parents used to have a tree that had branches almost down to the ground. It was hung with lots of baubles and stood on our floor, which in turn was covered with beautiful, golden paper. Since the cat, there's no more paper, no presents under the tree (they go on the shelf) and jewellery, candles etc. only from a height of 1.5 metres. Get a cat, they said. It'll be fun, they said."
Magic Mama
At Ramons Mama, too, the motto is: Go big or go home! A fir below ceiling height is not considered a real Christmas tree by her. Creativity is required to ensure that this size can actually be maintained every year.
"My mum always had the urge to put the biggest possible tree in the living room. I have no idea where she got hold of this gigantic thing, let alone how she got it home. Because her car was tiny. The condition for the tree: the top had to touch the ceiling. If this was not the case, the tree was placed on a stool. She didn't understand a joke when it came to decorations either. What my mother absolutely couldn't have: the same colour as last year. Or the year before last. Or the year before last. The tree had to look different every year. Hundreds of different Christmas baubles in all different colours and shapes piled up in the cellar. By now, my mum could open her own decorating business with them."
All just stolen
Simon and his friends, on the other hand, couldn't care less about the tree decorations. The main thing is that it's already up.
"20 years ago, we had a DJ and hanger rumble that we wanted to decorate one evening. So we stole an already decorated tree from outside a shop in the city late at night. So that we could transport the stolen goods properly, we pulled the ready-made tree through this tree wrapping machine. Wrapped well in the net, we were able to easily carry the tree to the Rüümli. We only disposed of it the following summer. Just classically filthy."
What does your parlour look like?
Every family or group of friends has its very own quirks when it comes to the Christmas tree. Very few people really don't care about the custom. Luca and his girlfriend even go so far as to spend hours making their own Harry Potter tree decorations. For their white tree. Grandma and Grandad, on the other hand, dip their real tree in tinsel and chocolates wrapped in glittery paper every year. A childhood highlight for me and my sister, especially when a Lindor ball appeared. We secretly wrapped other chocolate balls from time to time.
And what does Christmas look like for you? Do you have any nice anecdotes about the Christmas tree? Then share them in the comments column. I'm sure it's not just my family and my colleagues who have their own peculiarities. <p
My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.
Arts and crafts
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
Garden
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
Plants
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
2 comments
later