Easter holiday around the corner

The Easter holidays are just around the corner.

In Germany, Easter week starts with Holy Thursday, which Germans call “Gründonnerstag,” or green Thursday. The word green is not associated with the color but rather with the old German verb “grienen,” which means “to bemoan.” Some people keep up the tradition and eat green vegetables that day, preferably spinach.

The following day, Good Friday (April 18), is an official German holiday. For Protestants it is one of the most important religious holidays, while Roman Catholics strictly observe it as a day of fasting.

Germans celebrate Easter on two days: Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

Several weeks before Easter, decorations are put up inside the house and outdoors. It is common to hang up Easter eggs and other ornaments on branches from forsythia, willow catkins and other trees, which are put up in vases or grown in backyards. In some towns and villages, Easter trees are put up in public squares, fountains are decorated with eggs, flowers and garlands, and Easter markets are held with selling booths and merry-go-rounds.

Easter Sunday usually starts with the hunt for Easter eggs and Easter baskets — the biggest joy for children who believe the Easter bunny delivers eggs, chocolate and candy. Parents hide the Easter surprises in the most spectacular places, such as the oven, washing machine, closets and, of course, in the gardens. Another tradition is the Easter walk through the woods, where little ones may find some more eggs the Easter bunny accidentally “lost.”

A popular meal served on Easter is roast lamb. According to Christians, the lamb is the symbol for the crucifixion and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Easter lamb has its origin in a 2,000-year-old Jewish custom, and in 1265, the lamb appeared as a pastry for the first time. Today, bakeries offer Easter lamb pastries as well as Easter leavened wreaths with a hard-boiled colored egg in the middle.

The Easter egg had its beginnings in the ancient past. Early philosophers gave special significance to the oval shape of elemental things, from the raindrop to the seed, and the oval Easter egg is an outgrowth of ancient pagan rites associated with the rebirth of nature.

For the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, the egg was a symbol of fertility and life. They put clay and marble eggs in graves to facilitate the dead passing into another world.

In China 5,000 years ago, it was tradition to give away decorated eggs for the beginning of spring. In Finland, people claim that the universe derived from one giant egg. In Persia, eggs were only combined with spring festivities, because during the season of the new sun, poultry started laying eggs again.

It has not been explored why eggs play such a big role on Easter. A reason might be the strict prohibition by church to eat eggs during Lent.

In former times, decorated eggs were given as gifts throughout the year. Later it was just done on Easter. It was not only the Easter bunny giving away eggs, but also storks, foxes and donkeys were the bearers of eggs in mythology. In 1682, the Easter bunny was mentioned for the first time.

When the production of Easter chocolate and bunnies as well as the printing of Easter picture books and postcards began around 1850, the long-eared bunny became an Easter trademark.
In some towns, Easter markets are set up, where vendors sell handcrafted decorations, candles, artificial flowers, stuffed animals and candy. The Easter market with merry-go-round in Kaiserslautern is set up around Stiftskirche through April 19.

The Kaiserslauten Gartenschau will have a life-size Easter bunny passing out Easter treats to children from 1 to 3 p.m. April 20.

The zoo in Kaiserslautern-Siegelbach will celebrate the zoo season with an Easter fest April 20 and 21.