Discover Germany | Culture Feature | On Easter Fires, Egg Battles and Cold Swimming Events
Austria One of Austria’s more curious Easter traditions is the ‘Eierpecken’, which describes a fun Easter egg battle during the Easter breakfast or brunch. While coloured hard-boiled eggs are served alongside a cake in the shape of a lamb, a battle ensues. Each player holds their egg with the tip pointing up and prepares for the battle. Then, the first player starts hitting another egg tip with his own egg with the goal of breaking the shell of the other egg. The winner then proceeds around the table and tries his luck with other players. The winner is the person that is left with an intact egg at the end. Sounds quite a bit of fun, right? A different Easter custom in Austria that has almost disappeared over the years is egg scratching. It describes an old, special scratch technique with which to decorate eggs with beautiful patterns and ornaments. This almost forgotten custom is originally a Slavonic Easter tradition but it has been kept alive in Austria’s Stinatz by ‘Burgenland Croats’ and their descendants after the Second World War.
Easter fountain in Bieberbach.
Photo: © ENGADIN St. Moritz, swiss-image.ch/Christof Sonderegger
Switzerland
on both sides of the middle finger. When shaken, they make a distinct, rhythmical sound which can be heard everywhere in the villages of Brunnen and Schwyz from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. The instrument may actually originate from Spain in the Middle Ages, when lepers and others that could not communicate as well were required to announce themselves.
In Switzerland, on the other hand, you can find ‘Chlefeli’ all over the country around Easter. The term describes two small wooden boards which can be hung
Last but not least, Switzerland has yet another fun Easter custom on offer: the Easter Monday Blue-Egg-Swim in Lake
Greifensee on 22 April. As the title suggests, families and individuals go Easter egg hunting in the lake on Easter Monday in temperatures between five and 15 degrees Celsius. How does it work exactly? Participants will swim around 20 metres to the diving platform, before getting out of the water, grabbing the egg and returning it safely to shore. The crowd will cheer you on and other rewards are egg soup, other tasty soups and much more! If you are interested in joining, just turn up on the day as there is no need to register.
Easter fountain in Bieberbach.
Issue 73 | April 2019 | 35