Easter in different countries: Germany

Standard
chocolate bunny, Easter, Easter bunny, Easter Sunday, Easter tree, Frühlingfest, Germany, Good Friday, Gründonnerstag, Hasen-Bröttchen, Karfreitag, Kräutersuppe, Ostermarkt, Ostersonntag, Osterstrauch, Sommertagszug, summer day parade

Celebrations before Easter

In Germany, a few weeks before Easter a special spring event is held in some parts of the country called Sommertagszug (summer day parade) or Frühlingfest (Spring Fête). It is celebrated to welcome spring and tell winter to go away. At the end of the parade, the snowman and winter tree are burnt.

Easter market and decorations

Easter in Germany is celebrated like Christmas – with great fanfare. Long before Easter Sunday shops and supermarkets are full of Easter decorations and delicacies and most importantly – chocolate bunnies that are produced in Germany on a large scale. During this time Easter Markets (Ostermarkt) are organised in many German towns with decorated Easter eggs, chocolate eggs and bunnies, springs ornaments and other crafts. One of the most important decorations is Osterstrauch or Osterbaum (Easter tree). It can be a real tree or a bush outside a house or some twigs in a vase decorated with hollowed-out colourful eggs hung with ribbons.

German Easter dishes

In Germany, the Easter celebration starts on Gründonnerstag (Maundy Thursday). The name Gründonnerstag derives from greinen meaning crying or mourning. But since it sounds like “green Thursday” in German, many people celebrate it by eating green dishes such as Kräutersuppe or Sieben Kräuter Suppe (Seven Herb Soup) made with spinach, leek, chive, parsley, dandelion and sorrel. On Karfreitag (Good Friday) people usually have fish for dinner. A festive breakfast, lunch and dinner is prepared on Ostersonntag (Easter Sunday). The traditional Easter dishes include Easter lamb, Easter bunny cake, Hasen-Bröttchen (bread rolls). If there are any leftovers, Easter dishes are served also after the holiday. A delicious favourite is Grüne Soße or Eier in grüner Soße (Eggs in Green Sauce).

Sharing is caring

Hanna Gembus

Hanna Gembus is a professional Polish English and Polish German translator and communication specialist based in the United Kingdom providing translation, content, interpreting and market research services to small, medium-sized and large companies and organisations. She specialises in business, marketing and e-commerce, using linguistic and cultural knowledge to help both start-ups and established companies improve their presence on the market and increase sales. http://langoa.eu