The motif of this 1992 Bing & Grondahl Christmas Centennial plate is the same as the motif of the 1930 Bing & Grondahl Christmas plate. In 1895 Bing & Grondahl started the first series of Christmas plates in the world. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Bing & Grondahl Christmas plate series, which took place in 1995, Bing & Grondahl issued The Centennial Collection which comprises five plates. This plate is the second plate in the Centennial Collection. The motif is The Christmastree on City Hall square which was designed by H. Flügenring. The plate depicts the Christmas tree at the town hall in Copenhagen. This square is shaped as a shell, as the architect was inspired by the town hall in Siena, Toscana, where the square was also shaped as a shell. In Denmark the first Christmas tree was lit at Holsteinsborg in 1808. In 1817 the famous Danish writer Johan Ludwig Heiberg spoke in favour of the Christmas tree, where- as Grundtvig spoke of this tradition as watered-down Christianity. In 1847 Peter Faber wrote "Højt fra træets grønne top", where all the traditions around the Christmas tree are described. The first outdoor Christmas tree in Denmark was lit at the town hall square in Copenhagen in 1914, and hereafter this custom spread to almost every town in Denmark.