#20 most-searched carol in the US · 1824
O Christmas Tree: the story behind the carol
Also known as O Tannenbaum
🧒 Easy for kids🏡 Great for caroling🎤 Everyone knows it
- Words
- Ernst Anschütz (1824), from an older folk song
- Music
- German traditional
- From
- Leipzig, Germany
- Type
- Secular / folk
The story behind “O Christmas Tree”
The original German folk song wasn't about Christmas: it praised the fir tree for staying green all year, as a symbol of faithfulness. In 1824 the Leipzig organist Ernst Anschütz rewrote it, and as Christmas trees spread across Germany it became a Christmas song.
The English words most people sing are one of several 19th-century translations; there is no single official version.
More carols like this
- Silent Night1818 · Oberndorf, Austria
- Jingle Bells1857 · Boston, Massachusetts
- Joy to the World1719 · England; tune from Boston
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing1739 · England
- Deck the Halls1862 · Wales; English words from Scotland
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas1935 · West of England
History retold from the carol's Wikipedia article and its sources; checked 2026-09-30.