On the trail of a Christmas secret: How the Christmas tree got to Marienplatz in Freising

Created: 12/25/2022, 9:00 am

In 1965, the Freising Christmas tree was lifted up at Freising Marienplatz with a small construction crane.

It had previously been delivered by Bulldog.

© Stadtarchiv Freising

A Christmas tree on Freising's Marienplatz?

The city council rigorously rejected this in 1927.

It was only later that today's tradition was brought to life.

Freising

– In terms of feeling, the big Christmas tree at Freising’s Marienplatz has actually always been there forever.

It is simply impossible to imagine the pre-Christmas period in the cathedral city without it, with its sparkling candles, which in turn make children's eyes shine every year.

When researching the FT, however, it quickly became apparent that the tradition of putting up a mighty Christmas tree in front of the town hall does not go back as far as many might have thought - even though the first request to do so in the town hall was on the table in 1927 was.

The first request is rejected by the city council

The first documented request to the Freising city council on the subject of a Christmas tree on Marienplatz is dated December 16, 1927 and, according to Florian Notter from the Freising city archive, could well have been a reaction to smaller Christmas trees in front of individual shops, which seemed to have become fashionable at the time.

The Management Committee's response came late, on December 29th - and it was anything but positive.

A public Christmas tree, according to the committee's reasoning, would "profane the beautiful thought and custom of putting up a Christmas tree in the family".

In addition, a tree set up at Marienplatz would "give cause for all sorts of mischief according to the experience of the city council".

It is no longer possible to find out exactly what the councilors meant by this, but this fear may also explain the long-standing custom of securing the Freising tree with a wooden fence.

In 1949, the Christmas tree at Marienplatz is just a side note

With this very clear refusal, the topic of the Marienplatz Christmas tree was off the table for a long time, because there was no large Christmas tree there even during the National Socialist era.

For many years, the fir tree at Marienplatz (here a photo from 1955) was surrounded by a small wooden fence - as protection against vandalism.

© Hermann Hauptmann

However, the introduction of a central Christmas tree at Marienplatz did not seem to have been a big deal: in 1949, for example, the Freisinger Tagblatt only mentioned in a tiny marginal note that the tree from the previous year was rather “windy” and this year’s was much nicer.

Despite the lack of information, the entire research in the Freising city archive suggests one thing: the first Christmas tree as we know it today was probably lifted up without much media hype in 1947 - exactly 75 years ago.

Some Freisingers "smile sympathetically" at the Christmas lights

Another find in the city archives on the subject of modern Christmas lights: In 1949, for the first time in the whole city, fir garlands with electric lighting were stretched over the Ziegelgasse to encourage the people of Freising to go shopping.

The FT wrote at the time: "There is no doubt that the otherwise poorly lit street has gained a lot from this - it has changed from a foggy alley to his business street." This new type of "business advertising", as the reader was informed, was not a Freising invention, but come from Sweden.

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Although some people in Freising are said to have "smiled sympathetically" at the Christmas lights at the time, the FT pleaded for acceptance of the newly introduced illumination: "We are a progressive city after all!" But what became clear when leafing through the old newspaper editions: Christmas trees were not there weeks before bought, but shortly before, as an FT report from December 22, 1949 proves.

"Foolish prices" are demanded for Christmas trees

According to the reporter, business with the fir and spruce trees at the Bodensteiner inn initially only got off to a "moderate" start, but sales then picked up enormously - even though apparently "crazy prices" were being asked.

This year the Christmas tree shines for the first time with new technology: 3600 new LED lights ensure energy-saving lights.

© Lehmann

For posterity, the journalist then preserved some of the most striking sayings from Freisingers when "fishing out" the right tree: "He does it for the working day, and on Sunday we look away", "It's a glump, the Baam , it's yellow like a canary!” or “I bought a one-sided gnome, it costs less”.

Speaking of Christmas trees: Even then there was the custom of so-called Christmas tree auctions, which, however, did not go down well with everyone, as the survey under the headline "The Christmas tree plucked like a goose" by a member of the association, who apparently did not want to give his name, shows: " Of course, every club is somehow dependent on filling up its coffers, but that can also be done in other ways: You shouldn’t haggle with a Christian festival!”

By the way: In 1950, a fairytale play with the "little, bigger and big daughters and sons of Freising" in the Asamtheater provided a very special pre-Christmas surprise, which was discussed in the Nikolaus edition of the local newspaper - namely "Peterchens Mondfahrt".

The later cult actor Karl Obermayr was almost certainly among the approximately 40 participants, as already indicated in Roland Ernst’s Obermayr biography (2020).

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

At that time, however, no reference to the performance in Freising was found - when looking for the secret of the Christmas tree on Marienplatz, the reporter found it.

If that isn't a Christmas miracle.