On one corner of a magnificent 19th-century mansion in Vienna, Austria, is a rather unusual glass case. Inside is the midsection of an ancient tree. And it is completely covered in nails. Back in medieval Europe, hammering iron nails into living trees, wooden crosses and even rocks was a common practice for luck – similar to throwing coins into fountains today. Some trees became particularly known as “nail trees,” like the spruce in Vienna. It is estimated to be somewhere over 600 years old, and the first nails were hammered in while the tree was still alive before it was felled in 1440.
The idea of iron nails in living trees being lucky fell out of favor sometime in the late 1800s. And many nail trees quietly disappeared. But not Stock Im Eisen, or “staff in iron,” in German. It remains, watching over its corner.
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