Prague picks a 23-meter spruce for its Old Town Christmas market

Prague has chosen its main Christmas tree: a 23-meter spruce from Šimonovice near Liberec that will become the centerpiece of the Old Town Square Christmas market.

Selected from approximately 80 public nominations, the tree is estimated to be 50 to 60 years old. It grows on private property, where its owner had already planned to remove it because strong winds could make it a danger to nearby homes.

The spruce is scheduled to be felled Nov. 21, giving crews a week to transport, install and decorate it before the market opens Saturday, Nov. 28. This year’s Old Town Square market will run through Jan. 6, 2027.

Choosing Prague’s Christmas tree involves more than finding an attractive shape.

Organizers narrowed the nominations to about 20 candidates before specialists inspected their appearance, height, crown symmetry and health. They also assessed whether heavy machinery could reach each tree and whether it could be safely felled and transported into central Prague.

Some otherwise suitable trees were rejected because equipment could not access them, said Tomáš Jílek, director of municipal company Technologie hlavního města Prahy, known as THMP.

Another potential problem is a split treetop. Once installed in an exposed square, a tree with two competing tops can be vulnerable to wind forcing them apart, Jílek explained.

Wenceslas Square’s Christmas tree will also come from the Liberec region. That spruce, measuring 21 meters, grew in Rousínov near Česká Lípa and likewise needs to be removed because it poses a risk to its surroundings.

Once the Old Town Square tree arrives in Prague and is secured in its stand, THMP crews will begin decorating it.

Last year, the work took three days and involved 10 electrical technicians, decoration coordinators and three aerial platforms with a reach of 40 meters. The team installed approximately 350 ornaments and 8.5 kilometers of light strings. Those figures describe last year’s display; this year’s decoration details have not been announced.

The previous tree came from Jiřetín pod Jedlovou in the Děčín district. Originally 26 meters tall, it was shortened by approximately four meters before installation for safety reasons.

Its usefulness continued after the holidays. Wood went to apprentices at Prague’s Jarov vocational school, who made a garden shed and two benches for a shelter serving families with children in Prague 4.

They also produced a signpost with a map for the village where the tree had grown.

This year’s selection begins the preparations for the Old Town Square market, with the tree’s arrival and decoration set to transform the square in late November.