During the height of the Holy Roman Empire, a Tanzlinde or dance tree has been utilised as a judicial courtroom. As well as a place where assemblies were made and called Gerichtslinde (German for “court linden, doom linden”; plural -linden).

With the fall of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity, the linden or dance tree remained as a symbol associated with security and justice. Because of Christianisation, it has then been re-devoted as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and of the 12 Apostles.