When it comes to holidays and decorating apartments or homes for Christmas, you might think of brightly decorated Christmas evergreens. While the Christmas tree has its own story, there is another holiday tree that has an intriguing background — the Easter egg tree, otherwise known as easter egg tree.
As the name suggests, these are trees or branches decorated with hanging Easter eggs. One of the first American mentions of the Easter egg tree was at a party given by artist and designer Louis C. Tiffany, of stained glass fame. Although this holiday tradition has its early beginnings in the 1890s in America, its roots go back even further to Germany and neighboring countries like Poland, Austria and Hungary. Easter egg trees are also a fixture in Amish communities.
How were Easter trees created?
Bob Richter, vintage lifestyle expert and author Vintage Living and A very vintage vacationsays that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Easter tree originated in Germany, because that’s where the Christmas tree originated. Easter tree literally translates as “Easter egg tree”.
“Like the Christmas tree, Germany owes its beginnings,” says Richter. “Germans love to decorate for the holidays!”
During the Easter season, it’s common to drive around German cities and spot colorful egg-shaped tree decorations or hollowed-out eggshells adorning real outdoor trees. Families will collect willow or birch branches inside, display them in a vase, and decorate the “tree” with egg decorations. They can be minimally decorated or display thousands of eggs, such as the Guinness Book of World Records Easter Egg Tree from Brazil in 2007, which had a whopping 82,404 egg decorations!
Although the exact beginnings of the Easter egg are murky, this holiday tradition has been around for at least hundreds of years, eventually reaching the United States in the late 19th century via German immigrants.
Today, many people – regardless of whether they celebrate the German tradition or not – display an Easter egg tree every spring. Richter, whose own family has German roots and participates in this tradition, says the pieces add a cheerful touch to this time of year, when many long for “warm weather, sunshine and flowers.” According to Richter, “the Easter egg tree brings it all in.” He adds that Easter, thematically, is about rebirth, and the egg, in his opinion, is a “pretty ubiquitous” example of just that.
How to style an Easter tree
“As with so many things in decorating, color is key,” says Richter. “Easter is usually associated with pastel colors, so decorating with all pastel eggs can be very enjoyable.” He personally surrounds his Easter tree with freshly cut flowers in thanksgiving for spring as the blooming season.
You can choose to make your own egg decorations for a personalized touch (there are tons of tutorials online), especially if you want to coordinate with a particular room or color scheme. And remember, while pastels go hand-in-hand with this tradition, you can always push the tree in a more contemporary direction by weaving in trendy hues (like black and white, olive or mustard) or stocking design-forward egg decorations.