Where Did The Easter Tree Tradition Come From?

Southern tradition predicts that your mother likely has a photo of you in your Easter Sunday best, standing beside a juvenile dogwood tree adorned with colorful Easter eggs. While this technicolor tradition may seem cut from the cloth of a Southern story, you can trace its roots to another country entirely—Germany. There, it's known as Ostereierbaum or Easter egg tree. It's also popular in neighboring Poland, Austria, and Hungary. If you're looking to start this tradition at home, we've provided examples of how you can create your own beautiful Easter tree.

Easter Trees Have German Roots

One of the most popular Ostereierbaum once stood in a little town called Saalfeld, Germany. There, for 50 years, Volker Kraft decorated an apple tree, adding more eggs each year as the tree grew. A year before the tree tradition ended in 2015, it held 10,000 eggs, all hand-decorated by Kraft and his family over the years.

But that Easter tree doesn't hold a candle—or an egg—to one in Pomerode, Santa Catarina, Brazil. In the Guinness World Record for the largest Easter egg tree, a pecan tree displaying 82,404 painted eggs took the top spot in 2017. The Brazilian city has German roots and holds an Osterfest around Easter each year.

Lost over time, the origin story of the Easter egg tree tradition is unclear, but the practice is centuries old. Of course, eggs are a long-held symbol of life, and Easter happens to fall during Earth's rebirth in spring. The tree decorating ritual may have been a way to welcome the arrival of new blooms, buds, and chirping birds.

How Easter Trees Came To The U.S.

Easter trees most likely came to our shores with German immigrants and are especially popular in the Pennsylvania Dutch region. You can find pockets of the South that embrace the tradition too—or even a person down the street who thinks these decorated trees are lovely. (We certainly do.) The tradition has spread to families who enjoy hanging pastel-colored eggs in the front yard as a harbinger of springtime.

Carrying on the Easter tree decorating tradition is a unique way to celebrate the season. If you like the idea of an outdoor Easter egg tree but don't have a sapling or juvenile tree you can reach easily, consider decorating bushes or shrubs instead. You could also buy topiaries for your porch, popping a few eggs into the greenery for a burst of festiveness. Other families bring this tradition indoors and display an Easter tree in the home to celebrate the season.

How To Make Your Own Easter Egg Tree

Those who enjoy showing off their artistry can blow out and paint eggs just as people have done for centuries, but there are easier approaches to this project. Some companies punch holes at either end of plastic eggs to make for easy stringing. You can also tie a colorful ribbon through the center of the halved plastic egg, then shut it tight to keep the strand in place. Or, look for wooden eggs that are decorated and pre-strung to purchase. Once you've obtained some Easter eggs, here's how to make your own Easter tree for your centerpiece or mantle.

What You Need

• Budding branches from garden (or artificial ones from craft store)
• Large vase, pail, or watering can
• Sand or gravel
• Easter eggs
• Ribbon

How To Create an Easter Egg Tree

1. Collect a few budding branches from your yard or look for artificial ones at your local craft store.
2. Arrange the branches in a large vase, pail, or pretty watering can.
3. Add beads, sand, or gravel to hold the branches in place. If the stems are real, add water to keep the buds growing.
4. If your eggs are not pre-strung, loop a ribbon through the egg and attach it with a knot.
5. Decorate your Easter egg tree however you'd like. You can color coordinate with your china or let the rainbow inspire your kids.
   

How To Make An Easter Candy Tree

Need more inspiration? You can also create a sweet centerpiece for Easter brunch with this Easter candy tree. Curl colorful paper into a cone shape and attach a ribbon handle. After creating your containers, fill each with candies or plastic eggs.