O Tannenbaum the faithless maiden of the folk song. This was changed to ' (green) at some point in the 20th century, after the song had come to be associated with Christmas. The tune is an old folk tune attested in the 16th century. It is also known as the tune of "" and of "". Below is the tune with the original German lyrics of the first verse: <score vorbis="1"> » </score> The tune has also been used (as a contrafactum) to carry other texts on many occasions. Some notable uses include: O Tannenbaum "" (; "O fir tree", English: "O
A Lively Christmas Eve that reminded him of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". He also noted that it was the only pre-1989 East German picture to make a satirical reference to the Stasi. Joe Perry, who researched the Christmas costumes in Germany, considered "Ach, du Fröhliche..." as an example to the SED's attempt to uphold the holiday's traditions as a time of familial bonding while completely rejecting any religious connotation. A "Socialist miracle" of reconciliation between oneself and the leading ideology replaced the Christian-inspired one. The film presented the Christmas costumes of East Germany, that were a readjustment of the old tradition: the fir