How BAVARIANS celebrate EASTER - German Easter Traditions

Hey friends, I hope you're all doing well. Last time I said that I will take you along on our traditional Bavarian Easter celebration. And that's what I'm here for now. Easter is a Christian feast that is celebrated on the weekend after the first full moon in spring. Traditions for that day got very much mixed with the ones of the pagan feast Ostera, that takes place on the spring equinox, so usually a few weeks earlier than Easter. Rabbits and eggs play an important role in both feasts and resemble fertility and rebirth. The symbolic goes well with the celebration of the returning light and the awakening of nature from the pagan perspective. Or the tribute to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from a Christian perspective. So the first thing we prepare for Easter here in rural South Germany is to dye some boiled eggs. According to some references, this tradition comes from the medieval custom to dye eggs red on Easter, to remind of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Today that meaning isn't present anymore and we just dye them with different colors for the kids and to have something beautiful. That day we also mix blue and yellow to make a green egg and blue and red to create a purple one. I think they look always so gorgeous. In the morning of Easter Sunday the Easter bunny aka parents hide the colored eggs and sweets in the house or the garden and the kids have to find them. No one knows where that tradition comes from. But it is much fun though and I know that it is a game for kids, but hey, until I don't hide the Easter gifts for my own children, I want to search them. When all the food is found, the family meets for a festive Easter breakfast. With fresh yeast wreath, that's called Osterbrot in German, and cake. But the most important dish is a baked Easter lamb. It's also a cake baked in a lamb shaped cake tin. My grandma always makes it for our family. The Easter lamb should remind of the dead of Jesus Christ, as he got slaughtered like a lamb. That's pretty morbid again. But the cake lamb tastes delicious. Tell me in the comments how you celebrate Easter in your country. I hope you enjoyed this video. See you soon, friends!