Tallinn’s special Christmas trees

Christmas tree on the Town Hall Square

Traditionally, the ornament and centrepiece of the Christmas Market is the Christmas tree, which has decorated the square for more than 580 years. In 1441, the Brotherhood of the Blackheads placed Europe’s first Christmas tree on Tallinn’s Town Hall Square. Now this custom has spread all over the world and has become an important part of Christmas in many different nations – almost every village square has its own Christmas tree these days.

Christmas tree in the Rotermann Quarter

This year, Rotermann Quarter’s Christmas tree was decorated by the beloved Dutch florist Peter Boejikens, owner of a local flower studio. The tree is decorated with warm golden tones and the result is a charming work of art with its own little twist.

 

Christmas tree at Port Noblessner

The trendy seaside Port Noblessner celebrates Christmas in style as always: the magnificent Christmas tree in the main square of the port town has been decorated by the designers of the furnishing brand Shishi. The tree is decorated with the big red Christmas baubles familiar since 2019 and 22,000 (!) small LED lights. This fills Noblessner with the lights of a big city. A similar Christmas lighting solution has been used, for example, by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Estonia’s largest reed spruce at Tallinn Tourist Information Centre

Tallinn Tourist Information Centre (Niguliste tn 2) has been decorated with a truly special Christmas tree for many years: a simple and beautiful reed spruce. The Tourist Information Centre is open every day, except on public holidays – see our website for exact opening times. Free entrance.

While usually the trees can prick you a little, the Christmas tree made of stuffed animals in the Children’s Museum Miiamilla is soft and cute instead. There are bears, rabbits, horses, dogs, cats and even a green frog in the teddy tree.

 

One of the symbols of Tallinn’s old town, the Estonian Maritime Museum Visitor's Centre in Fat Margaret cannon tower, is decorated with a truly exciting sea-themed Christmas tree. Among the decorations you can find ships and glass floats, and between them beautiful stars shine like North Stars in the night sky – what else would you expect from Estonia’s most prestigious maritime museum? Entrance with a museum ticket or Tallinn Card.

In the unique architecture of the Seaplane Harbour, the wonderful Christmas trees created by the masters at Shishi just for the marine world create special fairy-tale charm and shine.

The Christmas trees arrive in the houses of the Estonian Open Air Museum for the Christmas Village in mid-December. Each household will have a unique Christmas tree, decorated according to the era. For example, at Köstriaseme Farm, a spruce will be placed on the ceiling, and at Härjapea Farm, you can admire a tree with Christmas decorations in the style of the 1930s. The kolkhoz apartment building has homes from four different eras.

 

In the greenhouse of the Kalamaja Museum, you can see an unconventional Christmas tree with various kitchenware hanging on it. The museum’s Christmas tree was inspired by the joint cooking event “Flavours of Kalamaja” that takes place in the Kalamaja Kitchen. The Kalamaja Greenhouse along with the Christmas tree can be visited for free during the opening hours of the museum.

This Christmas season, the Museum of Photography presents Christmas trees found in the bottomless depths of the archives. An installation with century-old interior photography and modern LED technology welcomes all visitors.

The great hall of the Kadriorg Palace is decorated with a fairytale Christmas tree. Between the glow of the lights and the glimmer of glass baubles, you can find references to fairy tales and also to the works on display in the museum. In the palace vestibule, guests are greeted by another stylish tree, which can be called the “Green Christmas Tree”. The evergreen tree is decorated only with ornaments in shades of green.

 

In the Proto Invention Factory, a spectacular magic forest installation will be opened that will fly visitors through the world of inventions and stories. In this spinning wonderland, you can find unique Christmas trees both rotating on the floor and hanging from the ceiling.

This year, you will find a special Christmas tree decorated with natural ornaments in the cosy courtyard of the Estonian Museum of Natural History. Although you can enter the museum’s yard without a ticket, it is definitely worth going through the museum itself and getting to know the peculiarities of Estonian geology, botany and wildlife.

 

There are as many as three Christmas trees in the merchant’s house of the Tallinn City Life Museum this year, the most traditional of which can be found right at the entrance of the museum, on the first floor. There is also a Christmas tree only for adults in the museum. The decorated tree at the “Indecent Tallinn” exhibition is decorated a little more obscenely than usual, as the ornaments were made in the workshops of the exhibition related to the exhibition’s theme.

The spruce tree of the Tallinn Russian Museum decorates the museum’s Laikmaa hall, which is the first location of the legendary art school of the renowned Estonian artist Ants Laikmaa. The museum’s Christmas tree was born together with the community of museum lovers. The collection of ideas already took place in the autumn together with the Russian Theatre. Christmas ornaments were made together in workshops organised by the museum. Find out more on the museum’s website!

Great Christmas trees can also be seen in the Maiden Tower, Digitiva Multimedia Art Space, Vabamu Museum and the Estonian War Museum.