Nailed tree

The Nailed tree occupies a central place in the permanent exhibition of the ethnological department of the National Museum of Pancevo, as an object of importance for the cultural identity of the city. Created in the middle of the 19th century, it is a witness to the golden age of crafts in Pancevo. The Nailed tree, 205 cm high, forks into three, also nailed branches. In the middle of the tree, about 30 cm wide, there is an iron link for attaching the tree to the wall. Above the link, there is a chain with a heart-shaped decoration at one end. A horseshoe with the inscription "Eduard Fridel Josef Kogesch Pancszova 1869" was nailed to the top of the thicker branch. Along the entire trunk, there are countless hammered iron wedges with round heads, but also those in the shape of a heart and a dateline with three and four leaves. The wedges are mostly properly nailed, although there are also those that are crooked, badly and clumsily typed. The "chained tree" is part of the tradition, tangible and intangible craft heritage of many cities in Southeast Europe (Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Transylvania), ie the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. At the time of the guilds in Pancevo, a chained tree was located in the center of the city, on the square. It is characterized by a solemn rite of passage, a ritual in which metal craftsmen, blacksmiths and locksmiths participated. On a symbolic level, the custom of ritually driving wedges into a tree was a sign of the new status of a journeyman who had the honor of becoming a master and opening his own workshop. Decorations on the tree in the form of a horseshoe, heart and clover with 4 leaves are symbols of happiness and progress of the master in the future craft business. In this way, the beginning of a new masterpiece was symbolically marked. The Nailed tree has been in the National Museum of Pancevo since 1932, when Dr. Borislav Jankulov, the founder of the museum, received it as a gift from the Halupa family from Pancevo.