Eduardo González
As is often the case, there are all kinds of legends about the origin of the Christmas tree, from those that attribute it to Saint Boniface in the 8th century to those that relate the Tannenbaum to none other than Martin Luther. Almost all versions agree that it is a German or Scandinavian custom that spread throughout the 19th century to other parts of Europe.
The tree came from Germany through Albert of Saxony, husband of Queen Victoria of England, who had it planted for the first time in his Kingdom around 1840. In the case of Spain, the person who introduced this custom was a very popular Russian princess, a conspirator and admired by Madrid’s high society, whose social and political biography could overshadow the brightest Christmas tree in the world.
Sofia Troubetzkoy was born in 1838 in St. Petersburg, and although officially she was the daughter of a Russian cavalry officer, Prince Sergius Troubetzkoy, everyone knew that her real father was Tsar Nicholas I. Her mother, Charlotte of Prussia, was the same in both versions.
Renowned as one of the most beautiful women of the European aristocracy, the princess was widowed in 1865 by a half-brother of Napoleon III and four years later married José Isidro Osorio y Silva-Bazán (Pepe Osorio), Duke of Sesto, Marquis of Alcañices and Mayor of Madrid between 1856 and 1865, with the consent of the then already deposed Isabel II.
The couple settled in the Alcañices Palace in Madrid – a building that no longer exists and is located on the current site of the Bank of Spain – which immediately became the centre of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo’s conspiracies to overthrow Amadeo of Savoy and restore the Bourbons.
In fact, the Dukes of Sesto not only contributed (and in the process were ruined) between 15 and 20 million reales to the cause, but the Russian princess made the necessary arrangements to ensure that her native country was the first to recognise Alfonso XII as King of Spain and dedicated herself to mobilising all the great ladies of Madrid (the Rebellion of the Mantillas) to isolate the Italian royal couple. “Alfonso, give Pepe your hand, he has managed to make you King,” Isabel II once told her son.
It was precisely in the Alcañices Palace where, in 1870, Sofia Troubetzkoy planted the first known Christmas tree in Spain, a custom that was widespread in other parts of Europe and deeply rooted in Russia itself (elka).
By then, the Russian princess had already won over Madrid’s high society with her knowledge of the fashions and good practices of the best European salons, so the example spread and became a custom. When Sofia died in Madrid in 1898, the Christmas tree had already taken root in the city and in the rest of her host country.
