This is why we decorate Christmas trees - and where the tradition started

Decorating your Christmas tree might be the biggest mark of getting into the festive spirit.

Whether you pick your tree from a pine tree patch or shop online for a fibre optic tree, no house is complete without one.

But why do we bring trees into our homes, drape them in lights and tinsel and stick a star on top? This is where the tradition began.

When were Christmas trees first introduced?

Christmas trees were first decorated during the 16th century in Germany.

Due to a shortage of wood in the winter, people would bring evergreen trees into their homes or stack piles of wood in a pyramid shape, before decorating with pines and candles - as a reminder of the spring to come.

Leading Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, was thought to be the first to add candles to his tree.

Legend suggests that he loved the stars twinkling through the evergreens in winter and decided to remake the scene for his family.

He brought a tree into the main room of his house and decorated it by tying lit candles to it.

Germans are then thought to have replicated his idea in their homes, around Christmas time.

How did it become a global tradition?

In the early 1800s Christmas trees were seen as a pagan symbol and not used by American Puritans and Christians.