Easter Tree?

I am familiar with the concept of the Christmas Tree, but what is it with the "Easter Tree" here in Germany? I have noticed many trees in town decorated with Easter eggs! For example, my downstairs neighbor has one. She has decorated her pussy willow with plastic (I think, I haven't looked up close) eggs. Is this some sort of German tradition I am not aware of?

photo by blondelibrarian

Update @ 8:40pm
I did a little surfing to see what I could find out about the Easter Tree in Germany. Apparently,

The making of an Easter tree is an old custom in Germany, Holland and some other European countries. They brought this custom to the United States when they came. Days before Easter, these Europeans would bring in bare branches and put them in a pot filled with earth. The children will then decorate them with decorated empty eggs. They did this by emptying the eggs, dyed them and then used ribbons to tie and hang them on the bare branches. The bare branches symbolize death while the eggs are a symbol of life.

-- from Kiddyhouse, Easter customs

More information about Easter in Germany can be found here:

• German Embassy of Ottawa, Easter
  
• German Information Center, Student's Corner, Ostern

Oh well, I guess if you can have a Christmas tree, why not an Easter tree too? :)