The Christmas Tree of the Republic
Shortly before Christmas Eve that year, writer, poet and playwright Rudolf Těsnohlídek and his friends found a nearly frozen little girl in the forest near Bílovice nad Svitavou and managed to save her. The experience deeply affected the poet and inspired him to look for ways to help abandoned children. He found inspiration in Copenhagen, where charitable collections for poor children had been held under a decorated Christmas tree since 1914. Těsnohlídek decided to bring this Danish custom to Czechoslovakia.
The first Christmas Tree of the Republic was erected in Brno in December 1924. A year later, the tradition came to Ostrava thanks to the initiative of the District Youth Welfare Association. Contemporary chronicles and newspapers describe the event in detail. A suitable tree was selected in Stará Bělá: a 20-metre fir tree was cut down on 12 December, decorated by local schoolchildren, and accompanied by speeches, poetry and carol singing as it was ceremonially transported through nearby districts.
On 20 December 1925 at 5:30 pm, the tree was erected on Masaryk Square in Ostrava, in front of the then town hall (today the Ostrava Museum). The programme included fanfares from Bedřich Smetana’s opera Libuše, choir performances, speeches by representatives of youth welfare and the mayor Jan Prokeš, as well as recitations and the national anthem. In the following days, people donated clothing, shoes and food, and a total of 27,000 Czechoslovak crowns was collected to support children in need.
The Christmas Tree of the Republic became a recurring event in subsequent years, also appearing in other parts of Ostrava. The tradition was interrupted several times—between 1930 and 1933, during the Second World War, and again in the early 1950s. After brief revivals in 1968 and 1969, it was not renewed during the period of normalisation. The tradition was finally restored after November 1989, first in Prague and soon afterwards in Ostrava, where it continues to this day as a symbol of solidarity and generosity.
