Zahlen, bitte! 178,333 needles on a typical German Christmas tree

For many, a festively decorated Christmas tree is an essential part of the holiday. Our column has the right numbers for you.

(Image: heise medien)

Dec 23, 2025 at 2:36 pm CET

5 min. read

By

Markus Will

"Where do we get the Christmas tree from?" is a question that occupies many, assuming the Christmas tree isn't already in the living room. They then search for the tree for the living room at the last minute on December 23rd. The intrepid ones still scout the last tree offers on Christmas Eve morning and then don't mind the odd cosmetic flaw.

For them, the festively decorated Christmas tree is an integral part of Christmas, and there are quite a few of them: According to estimates by the Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald (German Forest Protection Association), around 24 million Christmas trees are in German living rooms at Christmas.

In this section, we present amazing, impressive, informative and funny figures ("Zahlen") from the fields of IT, science, art, business, politics and, of course, mathematics every Tuesday. The wordplay "Zahlen, bitte!" for a section about numbers is based on the ambiguity of the German word "Zahlen." On one hand, "Zahlen" can be understood as a noun in the sense of digits and numerical values, which fits the theme of the section. On the other hand, the phrase "Zahlen, bitte!" is reminiscent of a waiter's request in a restaurant or bar when they are asked to bring the bill. Through this association, the section acquires a playful and slightly humorous undertone that catches the readers' attention and makes them curious about the presented numbers and facts.

Alle Artikel zu "Zahlen, bitte!"

The program "Frag doch mal die Maus" (Ask the Mouse) already dealt with the significant question about the tree in 2006: A child wanted to know how many needles a Christmas tree has, and they counted. The example tree was 1.63 meters tall and many helpers counted a total of 178,333 needles.

Christmas tree with lights, baubles, and gifts for the good household members.

(Image: CC BY-SA 2.0, William Warby)

While the Norway spruce was the most popular Christmas tree in this country from the 1950s onwards, it was replaced by the Nordmann fir from the 1980s. Today it holds a market share of 80 percent, followed by the blue spruce and the aforementioned Norway spruce. The Nordmann fir is valued because it is robust, sheds very few needles, and secretes little resin. The latter is also responsible for the fact that the Christmas tree no longer smells as intense.

Mostly Christmas trees from domestic sources

Over 90 percent of them originate from domestic production: In 2024, the Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt) counted a total of 3310 agricultural holdings that cultivate Christmas tree plantations on an area of 19,100 hectares. The regions with the largest cultivation areas are North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg.

The trees are also exposed to weather conditions on plantations.

(Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, Jimlaneozark)

1.8 million Christmas trees were imported, with most originating from the north: In 2024, 83 per cent of imported Christmas trees were delivered from Denmark. This is not surprising: With 9.3 million Christmas trees, Denmark was the world champion in Christmas tree exports in 2024.

The tree will likely be pricier in 2025: Costs have generally increased, and one million fewer trees are expected from Denmark. A globally increasing demand for Nordmann firs and harvest losses are causing exports from the neighboring country to shrink this year.

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Tree plantations require care

But how does a tree grow? After a Christmas tree has grown in a nursery for a few years, it is transplanted to its final spot and, depending on the desired size, is usually harvested after eight to twelve years.

During this time, the tree is exposed to the weather and needs care: A hectare of Christmas tree plantation requires about 80 hours of forestry work and care per year. Drought years and frost damage caused yields to shrink not only in Denmark in 2025.

Real Christmas trees are considered more sustainable than plastic trees for a long time: According to studies, a plastic tree needs to be used as a room decoration for about 17 years with around 48.3 kilograms of CO₂ to be more sustainable than comparable real Christmas trees, which account for about 3.1 kilograms of CO₂ per year.

Ecological Christmas trees with organic seals

NABU recommends not grabbing the tree at discounters, where you often don't know where it comes from, but rather buying regionally. Large plantations with their monocultures require the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

They recommend buying trees from special areas under power lines or utility corridors, the location of which can be inquired about at the forestry office. In addition, there are new seals such as Bioland, FSC, or Naturland, with which particularly ecologically managed trees are certified.

The decorations are also important: According to a survey, around 19,750,000,000 lights will shine at Christmas in German households in 2025. That's slightly less than last year. A large part of this is due to the light decorations on the tree. The trend towards LED lights is replacing classic fairy lights: they consume less electricity than fairy lights with conventional bulbs.

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Decorating the Christmas tree is a science in itself, which unfortunately gets lost in the pressure to give gifts, as the unforgettable Hanns Dieter Hüsch noted, who would have turned a proud 100 years old in 2025.

LEDs even make wireless fairy lights possible. Although setting them up without a tangle of wires is much more convenient, and they can be switched on and off with a remote control, the sustainability is relativized when you have to provide a whole set of batteries for the light display.

Anyone who has failed to get enough batteries in the pre-Christmas period might then, in their desperation, clear out the local gas station. Serenity for the equivalent of gold-pressed Latinum.