O Christmas Tree

Based on a traditional German folk song 'O Tannenbaum,' with origins dating back to a 16th-century German song and the first known "Tannenbaum" lyrics appearing around 1550 from Silesia. The melody is an old folk tune, and while an 1819 version by August Zarnack used the evergreen fir tree to contrast with a fickle maiden, the lyrics most widely known today were penned in 1824 by Ernst Anschütz, a teacher and organist from Leipzig, who added verses connecting the fir tree's enduring greenness to the joy and hope of the Christmas season. The song became associated with the Christmas tree tradition by the early 20th century as the German custom of decorating evergreen trees for Christmas, which originated in the 16th century, spread globally.