Shoe tree

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Shoe tree in Morley Field, San Diego

A tree that is mostly hung with old pairs of shoes is called a shoe tree .

origin

The origin of shoe trees cannot be determined historically. Often times, shoe trees emerge as a result of an action in which a person hurls a pair of old shoes , tied by the laces , into the branches of a tree. As a result, there are usually other people who, for their part, add shoes in the same way. Often associated with this action is the desire to throw away individual worries, along with your shoes. Some of the shoes are also labeled with wishes or greetings for this purpose.

From a cultural anthropological point of view, shoe trees are a rather recent phenomenon, but the custom of decorating trees and bushes with fabrics or clothing has long been widespread worldwide. In Ireland and Scotland , for example, the "rag trees" are known, trees draped with strips of fabric near springs ( Clootie Well ), to which healing powers are attributed, a custom that probably goes back to pre-Christian times. Such trees are also known from the Middle East.

Shoe trees worldwide

Most of the shoe trees are in the USA , over 70 have been documented there. The "shoe trees" have been known there since the early 1990s and can be found especially on remote country roads. Individual shoe trees also emerged in Canada . In England, the Armstrong Park shoe tree in Newcastle upon Tyne is known.

There is a well-stocked tree in Austria , Kapfenberg, next to a fun park for skaters ( 47 ° 27 ′ 24.3 ″  N , 15 ° 19 ′ 17.3 ″  E ).

Shoe trees in Germany

A well-known example of a shoe tree can be found in Berlin on the Landwehr Canal in Kreuzberg on Fraenkelufer, a shoe tree can also be seen in Moabit (corner of Birkenstrasse and Putlitzstrasse) and in Steglitz (corner of Bismarckstrasse and Steglitzer Damm). Further copies can be found in Munich (in the student town next to House 14 and near the Biedersteiner student residence at the Englischer Garten ), in Peine near the Stahldorf colony, in Hilwartshausen ( Hann. Münden ) on the B 80 and near Bad Tölz in the Oberland the country road in the direction of Ellbach, also in Konstanz on Lake Constance, in Tittling at the skatepark, in Düren at the skatepark opposite the fire brigade, in Reutlingen in Bismarckstraße 74, in Chemnitz on Georgstraße and in the Eifel on the B 421 near Hontheim , where to 1991 Soldiers of the US armed forces stationed there left their boots on a tree when they said goodbye.

As part of the Schleswig-Holstein state horticultural show in 2008, Ehler Schümann erected a shoe tree, which, however, was an artificial object on which shoes that were donated and planted with flowers were hung.

A copy of a shoe tree is located directly at the Friedrichsmoor hunting lodge south of Schwerin . Here, according to a Slavic custom, the brides nail their wedding shoes to a tree. This is supposed to symbolize eternal loyalty.

In Bad Oldesloe the shoe tree is close to a sports hall, there are many sports shoes on it.

Location of some shoe trees in Germany:

Shoe trees Coordinates
High Pulpit (Taunus) 50 ° 9 '34.7 "  N , 8 ° 15' 38.9"  E
Tittling 48 ° 43 '49.9 "  N , 13 ° 22' 17.4"  E
Düren 50 ° 47 '36.6 "  N , 6 ° 30' 10.8"  E
Euskirchen 50 ° 39 '18.2 "  N , 6 ° 46' 22.5"  E
Bredstedt / Riddorf 54 ° 36 ′ 56 "  N , 8 ° 58 ′ 54"  E
Stolzenau 52 ° 30 ′ 26 "  N , 9 ° 4 ′ 29"  E
Trier-Biewer (On the Bausch) 49 ° 47 '35.8 "  N , 6 ° 40' 0.7"  E
Bad Oldesloe 53 ° 48 ′ 43 "  N , 10 ° 22 ′ 11"  E

  • Schuhbaum in the Elztal

  • Schuhbaum at the Friedrichsmoor hunting lodge

  • Schuhbaum at the Hohe Kanzel

  • Schuhbaum in Trier-Biewer, Auf der Bausch

Shoe trees in literature and film

The phenomenon of the shoe tree has now also found its way into popular culture. An award-winning short film by director Ian Cottage from 1993 is entitled “The Shoe Tree”, inspired by the shoe tree in Newcastle upon Tyne . In the second season of the television series Medium , the 10th episode has the German title "Unter dem Schuhbaum" (Originally "Still Life" ). A shoe tree also plays a central role in the book The Taxi Driver's Daughter (2003) by Julia Darling .

See also

Web links

Commons : Shoe tossing  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rag trees in Ireland
  2. ↑ Why are rags tied to the sacred trees of the Holy Land? Amots Dafni, in: Economic Botany , Volume 56, Number 4 / December 2002.
  3. ^ Roadside America on the subject of shoe trees in the USA
  4. ^ TV report on the Newcastle Shoe Tree
  5. ↑ Munich student dormitory is to be anonymized ( memento of the original dated June 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Readers Edition, June 10, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.readers-edition.de
  6. ^ Image of the shoe tree of the Stahldorf colony
  7. ↑ Schuhbaum at the Tittling skatepark
  8. ↑ Google Maps. Retrieved March 15, 2020 (de-US).
  9. ↑ http://www.input-aktuell.de/mainframe.asp?n=2&newsid=37397 input-current
  10. ↑ Schuhbaum at the State Garden Show 2008
  11. ↑ The Shoe Tree , short film by Ian Cottage
  12. ↑ Under the shoe tree