Latvia is considered the official home of the Christmas tree: according to one version, it was in Riga that the world’s first decorated tree was erected in 1510. But Estonia has a different view: they claim that the Christmas tree appeared in Tallinn as early as 1441, that is 69 years earlier. Lithuania does not claim to be the first, but competes for the title of the country with the most beautiful street trees.
There are many examples of creatively decorated trees in each of the three Baltic States. Their creation is always a big event: it involves artists, architects, sculptors, as well as local companies that provide technology and materials. In this text, we have collected the most interesting projects.
For example, the Mīlestības egle (“Tree of Love”) by designer Kaspars Riekstiņš has been installed in Livu Square in the Old Town for several years in a row. This Christmas tree even has its own Facebook page. The 13-metre-high installation consisted of planed spruce boards with 60 metal lanterns from the blacksmith Aivars Oleksāns. The tree was crowned with decorative hearts made of stained glass. On New Year’s Eve, the lanterns were lit with wax candles from the Riga shop Sveču istaba, which initiated the project.
In 2013, an interesting Christmas tree was made by members of the Kaņieris youth environmental center. Their work appeared in Vērmanes Park. The centre’s students thought about how to prolong Christmas and symbolically froze the tree in a block of ice, along with wishes for the people of Riga. According to the description, the authors of the installation strived to adhere to the main values of the youth center: mutual cooperation, inclusiveness, openness, solidarity and quality work.
Next door, on Rainis Boulevard, a Christmas tree in the form of a three-dimensional tetris appeared in 2012. Its author is sculptor Lauris Vītoliņš, who works a lot with light installations. He designed this work together with the Art Academy of Latvia. Here you can watch a video of this impressive object: glowing multicoloured cubes effectively illuminate icicles on the “branches” of the tree and the snow around it.
Riga Christmas Tree from Forbes List
An equally interesting variation of the Christmas tree appeared on Livu Square in 2021: the 9-metre tall structure was made of plastic bottles, aluminium cans, tyres, electrical goods and other recyclable waste. The author of the Christmas tree is Haralds Geerts, a sculptor who creates figurines from recycled materials. He and his team worked on this project together with Clean R, a Latvian recycling company. They hoped to draw attention to responsible and environmentally friendly behaviour during the Christmas holidays: to encourage people to choose gifts more sustainably and not to buy unnecessary items, but instead to give their loved ones more love and attention.
Despite the utilitarian nature of the making, the tree was ranked in the top 10 most impressive Christmas trees by Forbes.
Lithuania
Christmas Trees on Cathedral Square in Vilnius
According to a study by the Brussels-based travel organisation European Best Destination, Christmas trees in Vilnius are among the most beautiful in Europe. This conclusion was reached based on feedback from more than 14,000 travellers from 82 countries. The main Christmas tree is set up on Cathedral Square—each time it is a new image, which is kept secret until the last.
Usually, the organisation “Švenčių studija” (“Holiday Studio”) is responsible for the decoration. In 2019, the theme was chess: the Christmas tree was decorated with a geometric pattern in the form of a game board, the top was crowned with a luminous crown, and chess pieces with garlands stood around it. This image emphasised the connection between modernity and the country’s long history: chess was a popular game among the Polish nobility and the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the time of Vilnius’ foundation (i.e. in the 14th–15th centuries).
The 2020 tree was compared to a surreal painting—the 24-metre-high structure was assembled in the form of a cone with shifted segments. It was decorated with spruce branches and 4 kilometres of garlands. A modest live fir tree with traditional pine cones and lanterns was placed inside. In order to make the installation “green” in every sense, the lights were powered by electricity obtained from the utilisation of coffee cake at one of the country’s biogas plants—the international Finnish company Paulig was responsible for this part of the project.
The Christmas Tree in the Prison Yard
In 2019, just after the closure of the historic Lukiše Prison in the centre of Vilnius, an experimental Christmas tree, whose main components were metal, light and water, was installed in the main prison yard. It took seven tonnes of metal structures to which red lights were attached. On top of the tree were sprinklers, through which five tonnes of water flowed, freezing into beautiful icicles.
The work was created by Oskars Gudas, a Lithuanian scenographer, lighting designer and participant in Vilnius city festivals. Viktoras Davidenko, the former warden of the prison, described that Christmas as “the merriest” in the prison’s history.
Surreal Christmas Trees of Kaunas
In Kaunas, installations appear on Town Hall Square every year. They are created by Jolanta Šmidtienė, textile artist and founder of Kaunas Balta Gallery. In 2022, she drew inspiration from the symbolist paintings of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, a Lithuanian artist whose museum is also in the city. The tree was crowned with 40 handmade gold stars and zodiac signs—Čiurlionis dedicated a series of works to them.
The New Year 2014 in Kaunas was celebrated with a Christmas tree in the form of sparkling clouds made of plastic cups. Twelve snow-white angels by sculptor Vaidotas Ramoška sat on them—the same ones that have been installed in Vilnius, which has been called “the city of angels”, since 2004.
And even earlier, in 2011, Schmidtienė designed a 16-metre tree made of 40,000 plastic Sprite bottles with “needles” made of plastic ties sticking out in all directions. The artist was guided by a very simple principle: any of us can make something beautiful out of useless things and at the same time save nature. The project entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s tallest sculpture made of plastic bottles.
Estonia
Installations by Teet Suur
Tallinn is famous for one of the most beautiful Christmas markets in Europe and the huge Christmas tree in Town Hall Square. Usually it is decorated in the traditional manner, but to see experimental variants, you have to leave the Old Town. For example, in Viimsi, a suburb of the Estonian capital, a Christmas tree was created in 2019 from 11,000 plastic jerry cans sold at petrol stations. Inside, they installed lighting: coloured light and matte plastic created unusual shades.
The author of the Tallinn installation was local artist Teet Suur. Until recently he worked on a farm, but then he discovered his creative talents and trained as a sculptor at art school. He regularly comes up with unusual Christmas trees to, as he says, “defy stereotypes”.
One of his installations appeared in 2015 in the eastern city of Rakvere. The 12-metre-high tree was built in two days by students of the Rakvere Vocational School. The windows of old houses were used for its construction—a total of 121 frames with coloured glass. You can watch the assembly process in the video.
One of his installations appeared in 2015 in the eastern city of Rakvere. The 12-metre-high tree was built in two days by students of the Rakvere Vocational School. The windows of old houses were used for its construction—a total of 121 frames with coloured glass. You can watch the assembly process in the video.
It is interesting that in the neighbouring countries of Northern Europe there are far fewer experimental Christmas trees installed—this is probably due to the fact that Christmas traditions have not been interrupted there and people prefer more traditional Christmas paraphernalia. In this sense, the Baltics are a completely unique region with an incredibly creative approach to Christmas.
