From egg toasts to flying daffodils...
Easter is a wonderful occasion to spend time with family and friends every year. Easter is accompanied by a wealth of traditions and customs almost everywhere. As is so often the case: other countries, other customs. The communication experts from Wilde & Partner have taken a close look and compiled a list of the most unusual Easter traditions.
We in Austria have a delicious tradition for Easter: in Zell am See-KaprunSalzburg, the "Osterfleck" for example. This sweet version of Easter bread is a type of milk bread or Germbrot, which is traditionally formed by hand. Of course, dyed Easter eggs are a must. A tip for a special effect: onion skins give the eggs a darker color. Using herbs as a stencil between the egg and onion skin creates particularly beautiful patterns.
Anyone spending Easter in France will wait in vain for the Easter bunny. This is because the flying daffodils are the focus here as a symbol of the Christian festival. "The daffodils have a special significance," says local travel expert Christiana von Evaneo'sthe online marketplace for individual travel. "The ringing church bells set off on their journey to Rome on Good Friday and hand out sweets for the children on their return flight, who then look for them on Easter Sunday."
The "Zwänzgerle" Easter custom originally comes from ZurichBut it also has its fans in the region around the Swiss mountain village of Andermatt, as Andreas Meier, General Manager of the Radisson Blu Hotel Reussen there, reveals. The object of this spectacle is to throw 20-centime coins at the eggs held out by the children in such a way that the coins get stuck in them. If they succeed, the thrower receives the egg and the coin. An almost impossible feat, much to the delight of the little ones: every coin that falls to the ground belongs to them. Everything else in Andermatt around Easter is also geared towards families, with goat trekking tours, farms to visit and special packages in the child-friendly Radisson Blu Hotel Reussen.
An almost forgotten tradition is known to the Graubünden experts of the largest Alpine railway in Switzerland, the Rhaetian Railway. The fun custom of the so-called "Eiertrölen" is all about the shell: The strongest egg wins. After the Easter service, the locals meet on a steep meadow. Here, everyone rolls their eggs down the slope. If an egg breaks, it is discarded. In the mountain village of Pontresina on the Bernina Pass, the search for the winning egg continues to this day. The sunny Crast'Ota plateau above the village serves as the egg track.
Holy Week in Mallorca is called Semana Santa - literally translated as Holy Week. The name alone shows how important Easter is on the Balearic island. The Mallorca expert fincallorca.com gives an insight into the highlight of Semana Santa: the great blood procession on Maundy Thursday. All of the island's religious brotherhoods come together in Palma de Mallorca for this event. Chain rattles, drums and whip beats create the atmosphere for the impressive procession. The brotherhoods have been parading through the old town as masked penitents with pointed hoods and floor-length cowls since the 16th century.
Picture Credits: Maxmann/Pixabay, Unsplash, Valentin Luthiger, Efraimstochter/Pixabay, Alex/Adobe Stock
