Europe and its various ways of celebrating Easter

Different symbols in different countries

Easter in Europe can be a heterogeneous affair in the way this religious holiday is celebrated. As a matter of fact, it is even rarely celebrated on the same dates across the continent. The Eastern Orthodox and Catholic and Protestant calendars do not always coincide. This year for example Catholic Easter will be on 17 April and the Orthodox one will take place a week later.

When it comes to the way people mark the occasion the variety of traditions gets even more marked depending on the countries, or even the regions in some cases.

What you may have assumed to be the typical symbol for Easter in your part of the world, might be completely unheard of in another. Think chocolate bunnies are ubiquitous at that time of the year? Most Europeans have likely never even heard of those.

The colourful variations of European Easter

Germans, Austrians and Baltic people, for example, like to stick to their custom of decorating trees. It’s hardly a surprise given that the Christmas tree concept was also born in these latitudes. So, we present you the Ostereierbaum, or the Easter Egg Tree – another, just-as-ancient tradition. And you guessed it right, this time the objects used for decorations are brightly decorated eggs.

In Bavaria and parts of northern Germany, people also decorate wells and fountains with bright displays. In the town of Lügde, locals send burning “fire wheels” down a slope known as Easter Hill.

Eggs in fact seem to be the most iconic Easter object across vast swaths of Europe, come Easter. In the Orthodox countries, such as Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, the most fun part is getting to first paint the boiled eggs and then have “wrestling games” with them with relatives and friends in order to declare a champion.

Traditionally, eggs were only painted red in order to symbolize the blood of Christ. The egg-cracking game is called tsougrisma in Greece. It is also meant to symbolize Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. It is also traditional to eat roasted lamb, as in an allusion to the Lamb of God.

The Semana Santa, or Holy Week, in Spain and Portugal, is traditionally a sombre affair much more reminiscent of the religious spirit of the holiday. In the southern Spanish communities of Seville and Malaga, members of hundreds of local church associations, called cofradías, dress up in robes, then parade ornate floats topped with scenes from the Passion to the sound of horns and drums.

In Braga, Portugal, you’ll find processions of Catholic brotherhood members barefoot, hooded, and echoing Gregorian chants down cobblestone streets while carrying candlelit altars.

Italians love their chocolate eggs and colomba di Pasqua (brioche-like sweet loaf). In Florence, Easter Sunday features a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. During Scoppio del Carro, or “Explosion of the Cart,” oxen garlanded in flowers pull an elaborate 17th-century wagon through the city to the Piazza del Duomo, where a cart stuffed with fireworks sits at the ready. When the parade reaches its end at the Cathedral, the Archbishop of Florence lights a dove-shaped rocket that sets off a dramatic firework display.