Tourists Win in Baltics Christmas Tree Battle

Photo credit: Marina Gira

Riga and Tallinn—the capitals of Latvia and Estonia—have been waging a friendly feud for nearly a decade. Their beef? Who deserves bragging rights over which city was the site of the world’s first decorated Christmas tree. Riga says it was first, in 1510. Not so fast says Tallinn city fathers. They believe (with a little coaching, no doubt, from their municipal promotional team!) that Tallinn first publicly displayed a decorated Christmas tree in 1441. (For the record, most of the rest of the world credits Germany with this yuletide invention.) But this is a friendly feud and the winners are happy Christmas travelers who flock to Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius—capital of the third Baltic country, Lithuania—to savor the stunning Christmas trees, markets and all manner of seasonal sights, tastes and sounds.