The History of New Year in Russia. From Peter I to Today

The first Russian Emperor and the first Russian New Year... How this amazingly bright, beloved festival since childhood has changed, faded, and continuously resurrected in a new interpretation in Russia.

The first true New Year in Russia was in the year 1700. In more than three hundred years, much has changed, but the tradition of celebrating introduced by Peter I remains to this day.

On 20 December 7208 (1699), the ruler of "all Great, Little, and White Russia," Peter Alexeyevich, signed a significant decree that laid the foundation for the most popular festival in Russia — New Year. The innovative Tsar proposed — no more and no less — to switch to a new system of timekeeping. The years were no longer to be counted from the creation of the world, as had always been the case in Russia, but from the birth of Christ, as was customary in other countries.

"To him, the great ruler, it became known — not only that in many European Christian countries, but also among the Slavic peoples, who align with our Eastern Orthodox Church in all respects — like the Wallachians, Moldavians, Serbs, Dalmatians, Bulgarians, and the subjects of his, the great ruler, the Circassians, and all Greeks, from whom our Orthodox faith was adopted — all these peoples count their years from the birth of Christ..." — thus begins the text of the decree.

Another important novelty — the date of the beginning of the year. In the timekeeping from the creation of the world, 1 September was considered the start of the year. Peter I changed the centuries-old tradition with a stroke of a pen: The start of the new year was moved from September to January. The decree states: "And now, from the birth of Christ, the year 1699 is reached, and in the coming January on the 1st day, the new year 1700 will begin, along with the new century".

Peter's Decree No.1736: Main Points

• Begin timekeeping not from the creation of the world, but from the birth of Christ.
• Consider the first month of the year as January and not September.
• Celebrate the New Year: decorate houses, congratulate each other, hold fireworks and cannon shots.

The decree of the first Russian Emperor is still joyfully followed by Russians today!

Peter I's decree also prescribed celebrating the New Year: preparing for this date and then celebrating from 1 to 7 January. Specifically, the ruler ordered "to make some decorations from trees and branches of pines, firs, and junipers", "on 1 January, as a sign of joy, to congratulate each other with the New Year... to shoot three times and fire some rockets, as many as each has" and "in the main streets, where there is space, to light fires from wood, brushwood, or straw at night from 1 to 7 January..."

According to Peter's decree, coniferous trees or their branches should decorate houses not inside, but outside. Besides the fir, it was also allowed to use pine and juniper.

After Peter the Great, during the times of palace revolutions and until the 1840s, New Year and coniferous trees were forgotten in Russia. People lived according to the Orthodox calendar, divined during the Holy Nights... And only in the mid-19th century did they remember the fir again: In Russia, as in Europe, it became a symbol of Christmas. The custom of holding Christmas parties for children also emerged.

After the revolution, in 1928, the fight against "religious prejudices" began, and Christmas as well as New Year were no longer celebrated in the Soviet Union. The holiday only returned to the people at the end of 1935 in a changed form: The two holidays were united into one — New Year. And the tree became the New Year's tree, as it is perceived in Russia today.

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Magic Tree – Fir Tree

The cult of the tree was widespread among many peoples of the world. It was believed to have a soul, was revered, prayed to, and hoped to provide protection from evil spirits and adverse weather phenomena. The type of tree was chosen according to the geographical and climatic characteristics of the region. "Particular attention was usually paid to evergreen plants: pine, spruce, juniper, cypress, and others, as, according to widespread beliefs, the abundance of eternal power in them is more pronounced than in deciduous trees that shed their leaves in winter."

The tree was used for various rituals: In some cases, people came to pay homage to it at the place where it grew, in other cases, it was cut down and taken with them.

People have always regarded the tree as a bearer of life energies that connect the world of humans, nature, and the cosmos into a whole. The fir – an evergreen conifer from the pine family with a conical crown – was considered sacred in ancient Greece, Northern Europe, among the Celts, and the Finno-Ugric peoples.

The cult of the fir as a symbol of immortal nature arose from two factors. Firstly, the evergreen foliage – the needles – allows this tree to be used as a magical symbol all year round, even in winter. Secondly, the shape of the crown, which seems to strive towards the sky, is appealing.

Needles and young branches of the fir were used by many ethnic groups to treat various diseases, heal wounds, and ulcers. However, among some peoples, this type of tree evoked rather gloomy associations. As early as the 1st century, the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder called the spruce the "funeral tree." In Russia, the fir did not find special admiration or reverence; the Russians preferred the birch – a bright tree that radiates positivity. Fir wood was used in everyday life as fuel for stoves and as building material.

The Eastern Slavs and later their descendants, the Russians, also used the fir for ritual purposes. Fir branches were used during various rituals, many of which are still practiced today. By no means are all of them festive or associated with the New Year.

Today, the fir, primarily thanks to the colourful and festive New Year's celebration, retains a festive and bright image. "Winter beauty" – this is what the festively decorated fir tree is called on New Year's Eve in Russia.

Dance circles around the tree, garlands, and New Year's decorations – all these modern New Year traditions have their roots in the distant past. Some peoples have always revered the fir as an object of worship on the first day of the New Year, which was associated with the day of the winter solstice. For example, the Khanty offered sacrifices to it and considered it a "sacred pole." The Udmurts performed offerings and prayers in honour of the lord of the forest Nyulésmurt alongside the fir. They turned to him with requests and hoped for his help in honey gathering, hunting, and livestock farming.

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The tradition of decorating the Christmas tree for New Year and Christmas came from Germany to Russia.

It began with the pagan tribes of the Germans, who decorated the fir tree for the sun festival on the shortest day of the year. The evergreen tree was associated with life, and objects were hung on it to symbolise gifts to the gods. The Germans also decorated the doors of their homes with individual fir branches during these days.

However, historians still cannot say exactly when the tree was first set up in the house for the festival. Increasingly, there is evidence that this tradition did not originate in the church, as often assumed, but in craft workshops and studios. The specialist in European ethnology, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, discovered in the chronicle of the Bremen guild, dated 1570, a mention of a small tree set up in a living room and decorated with apples, nuts, dates, pretzels, and paper flowers. On Christmas Eve, the children of the guild were allowed to "shake the tree vigorously" and collect the gifts. Another mention of a similar custom comes from 1597: In the Swiss city of Basel, the tailor apprentices set up a tree in the room where they slept and hung apples and cheese on it, which they then enjoyed for the festival. Later, families began to decorate fir trees in their homes.

In the first half of the 17th century, candles were not yet attached to the Christmas tree – paper roses, apples, sugar, round biscuits, and "tinsel" were used – this was the name for the gilded garland cut from thin metal plates. There are also indications that dolls were sometimes hung on the tree at that time.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the custom began to take root in cities: Christmas trees were set up in the homes of high-ranking officials and wealthy citizens. Memories of a beautiful fir tree set up in the centre of Nuremberg at Christmas 1795 have been preserved by a chronicler: "On every branch and twig hung delicious sweets, angels, dolls, little animals – all made of sugar... In addition, gilded fruits hung, so that one felt under this tree as if in a food store." Furthermore, wax candles burned on the tree, "which carries the stars in the sky." The chronicler concludes that all this beauty was by no means made for the children, but for the adults, more precisely – for the "big, grown-up children."

At the beginning of the 19th century, the aristocracy picked up the trend: Christmas trees were set up in homes across Europe, and gradually they also came to Tsarist Russia. In the middle of the penultimate century, glass ornaments began to be hung on them, and by the end of the century, the first electric light chains appeared in the USA. The industrial production of Christmas tree decorations began.

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The tradition of long New Year holidays in Russia originated in the 19th century when the celebrations began with the start of the Twelve Days of Christmas, a whole series of festivities.

The celebrations began on 24 December, Christmas Eve; Christmas was celebrated on 25 December; New Year on 1 January and Epiphany on 6 January. Officially, there were only four days off, but in reality, people celebrated for almost two weeks.

Church and secular traditions were closely intertwined.

On Christmas night, people went singing, and in the morning, they attended church for the solemn service. On the same day, they visited friends and relatives and went "visiting."

Throughout the holidays, wealthy and respected families held festive dinners, grand balls, and masquerades. According to etiquette, New Year visits could be made throughout January, but it was considered particularly polite to be a guest on 1 January.

By the end of the 19th century, Christmas cards appeared. These were sent not only to relatives in other cities but also to neighbours on the street.

Until the mid-19th century, Christmas trees were not set up or decorated in Russian homes. Since the time of Peter I, fir branches were brought into some, mostly Catholic, homes. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree and organising children's parties only began to gain popularity in the mid-19th century, during the time of Nicholas I. The Emperor's wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Fyodorovna, organised the first Christmas tree party for children from respected families. The tradition quickly caught on: first, festive mornings were organised in noble families, later also in merchant families.

The first Christmas trees were sold by Russian Germans and Swiss. Many of them owned confectioneries, so Christmas trees appeared in cafés and sweet shops. One of the first Christmas tree markets was opened at the end of the 19th century in Moscow on Theatre Square next to the Bolshoi Theatre. In Saint Petersburg, one could buy a tree in the courtyard of the Anichkov Palace or in Catherine Park.

According to German custom, the tree was decorated on Christmas Eve. It was adorned with children's toys, ribbons, lanterns, and various treats like pastilles, apples, biscuits, and sweets. The children found their gifts not only under the tree but also on it – after games and entertainment, toys and treats were distributed to the guests.

For poor children, charitable Christmas tree parties with events and gift-giving were organised at Christmas. The artist and writer Maria Voloshina-Sabashnikova, daughter of a tea merchant and wife of a well-known poet, recalls the organisation of the Christmas tree party for poor children by the Moscow Society for the Support of the Poor: "My mother took part in organising such parties for the children of our neighbourhood... The candles were lit on the big tree. In the next room, gifts were distributed. Each child received calico for a dress or a shirt, a toy, and a large bag of gingerbread..."

Nowadays, Christmas tree parties for children are held both before and after New Year. However, in pre-revolutionary Russia, only one day was designated for this – Christmas Eve, the eve of Christmas.

By the end of the 1920s, anti-religious propaganda intensified, and church holidays were abolished. With Christmas, its main symbol – the Christmas tree – also disappeared.

Furthermore, contemporaries recall that patrols walked through the streets of the cities and looked into windows to see if the lights on the tree were burning. Citizens who secretly celebrated the religious festival were condemned and persecuted.

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