When I tell my friends that in the German style, we don't decorate our Christmas tree until Dec. 24, they pity me a bit. "What's the point?" one of them asked, assuming that this custom indicated ...

It's often claimed that many of today's Christmas traditions derive from the pre-Christian observances of pagan cults suppressed by Roman authorities. The story goes that, after Christianity ...

Christmas trees did begin as a pagan tradition as early as the fourth century C.E., ... the German community began to accept both trees and formal Christmas decorations in the 17th century.

Nazi leaders respun Christmas as a neo-pagan, Nordic celebration, greatly de-emphasizing the religious aspects of the holiday.

Pagan, or non-Christian, traditions show up in this beloved winter holiday, ... The Christmas tree is a 17th-century German invention, University of Bristol's Hutton told LiveScience, ...

Since the 1860s, German historians, theologians and popular writers had argued that German holiday observances were holdovers from pre-Christian pagan rituals and popular folk superstitions.

Since the 1860s, German historians, theologians and popular writers had argued that German holiday observances were holdovers from pre-Christian pagan rituals and popular folk superstitions.

Since the 1860s, German historians, theologians and popular writers had argued that German holiday observances were holdovers from pre-Christian pagan rituals and popular folk superstitions.

Pagan, or non-Christian, traditions show up in this beloved winter holiday, ... The Christmas tree is a 17th-century German invention, University of Bristol's Hutton told LiveScience, ...

When you gather around the Christmas tree or stuff goodies into a stocking, you're taking part in traditions that stretch back thousands of years — long before Christianity entered the mix.