Dr Heinrich Hoffman's Struwwelpeter 
(“Shock headed Peter”) - his punishment was distinct and cruel—he was unloved.

German Christmas books and toys

Children’s literature appeared in Germany long before appearing in England. It positively boomed in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries and was shot through with Protestant morality.

As a child Penelope adored Struwwelpeter by the premature surrealist and medical doctor Heinrich Hoffmann. It’s a book of cautionary tales written as a Christmas gift for the doctor’s four-year-old son and its original title was Funny stories and droll pictures with 15 colour plates, for children ages 3–6. Today it’s probably not given to children in the UK. Is it in Germany one wonders? There are characters like the tailor Long-Red-Legged Scissor Man who cuts off thumbs if you suck them (P didn't)


and Harriet who played with matches and burned to death (P's mother called Harriet found it traumatising to read as a young child)  


 
There was also a British interest in German wooden toys in the middle of the 19^th Century.  By 1913 the Germans were providing over 80% of the toys young Brits were given for Christmas. Under the Christmas Tree, for example, were German stuffed Steiff bears (not made of wood, and renamed Teddy bears in the US after the president Teddy Roosevelt, out hunting, showed compassion for a wounded black bear
 

The annual Norwegian spruce in Trafalgar Square

A thank you present for support against the Nazis

Plants and trees that remained green in winter have had a special meaning for centuries. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness and they were hung over doorways and windows.

The annual Christmas tradition of the Norwegian spruce tree in Trafalgar square began in 1947 as a thank you present from King Haakon VII of Norway whose government was in exile in Britain during the Second World War. He had refused to appoint a new, Nazi-collaborating Prime Minister, when asked 'nicely', and then fled the country when Norway fell.

Haakon may have come up with the idea after a Norwegian resistance fighter called Mons Urangsvåg cut down a Christmas tree in 1942 when he was briefly back in Norway during a raid on the island of Hisøy. He then had the tree transported as a gift to his exiled King. A new tree has since grown from the original stump.

Great care is apparently taken to supply the annual tree to Britain, However the tree that arrived in 2021 (mid-Covid) looked 'half dead.'  The Agency for Urban Environment at the City of Oslo (Bymiljøetaten) is responsible for providing the Christmas tree to London.

The Agency keeps a list of potential Christmas trees and the candidates receive 'extra care'.
Nearby trees are removed to improve light, and they are regularly fertilized. They need to be narrow enough for transportation and obviously near a road. 

A crane loads the tree onto a trailer with a specially designed crib, constructed to ensure the stability of the tree during transportation to the harbour of Brevik. The tree is always cut to 21 metres in order to fit the crib.

The Danish shipping company DFDS transports the tree across the North Sea to Immingham, in Lincolnshire, and it continues the rest of its journey by road.