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Oh, the troubles Chevy Chase went through to get the perfect Christmas tree in the 1980’s classic, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”!
Watching the father search the forest for a primary specimen, dig it up by hand and struggle to get it home can make anyone appreciate the convenience of a store-bought tree.
Luckily, there are many alternatives for finding a fresh Christmas tree that don’t involve hair-tussling actions. In Germany, they might even include a hot beverage and a romantic camp fire.
Going in the woods and cutting down your own tree is strictly forbidden in Germany. However, many communities have tree farms where people can select the tree they want and have it cut down freshly.
The Weber family of Niederöfflingen has turned its tree farm into a Christmas adventure land. It is located near Bitburg and is one of the few places where people can actually cut down their own trees, as long as they are within the culture’s boundaries. Afterward, customers can warm themselves with hot spiced wine or apple juice at a camp fire while the workers put a net around the tree for easier transport.
Such offerings are common at community tree farms. Food, drinks, even
carriage rides often make tree shopping there a lot more fun than at the store.
“It’s an experience for the whole family,” said Franz Weber, who runs the 50,000-tree culture outside Niederöfflingen with his wife, Pia, and their four children. For 12 years, the family has provided a selection of Norway Spruces, Noble Firs and other popular evergreens.
Their most in-demand tree is the Nordmann Fir, which, according to the German Forest Protection Association, SDW, accounts for more than 50 percent of Christmas tree sales in Germany. “It is a beautiful tree that holds its dark needles for a long time,” Mr. Weber said.
Unlike in the United States, where the Christmas tree is often set up weeks before the Christmas holidays, Germans traditionally wait until Christmas Eve to put up the tree. Usually, the children are lured out of the room and are only allowed to enter once the tree has been decorated. It is common for a German Christmas tree to remain in the living room until Three Kings Day Jan. 6.
The Webers have sold trees to both Germans and Americans before and have noticed this difference in timing. However, Mr. Weber said, the American tradition is increasingly making its way into German households.
To keep a tree from losing its needles early, it should be kept in water in a cool, dark place. Cutting off a slice of the stem before moving the tree inside the house further increases its life span. Some people also like to add sugar to the water.
Those who shun the effort of cutting down a tree themselves can buy one already cut from tree farms in many German villages and at Christmas markets. Various German supermarkets and hardware stores also sell trees in the weeks before Christmas.
Boy Scout chapters sell Christmas trees every year as their primary fundraiser. This year, the Ramstein Boy Scouts will sell trees at Ramstein Bldg. 2494 on Lincoln Boulevard from Saturday until Dec. 23. Their hours are 5 to 8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.
Boy Scout and Cub Scout units located around Vogelweh will start sales at 5 p.m. today next to the Pulaski Shoppette. Their hours will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Their last day of sales will be Dec. 22, from 5 to 8 p.m.
