(European)  Easter traditions

Easter is the third Christian tradition we wanted to find out about in the course of the school year 2003/04. Follow us to a number of interesting sites about Easter traditions in Europe and also outside of Europe.

The Christian festival of Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ. Interestingly though, if we go back far enough in time, we can easily find out, that historically Easter was a pagan festival and not a Christian one. Indeed, many of the Easter traditions that we are familiar with today have pagan origins.

We first tried to collect information about Easter traditions all over Europe. Study the historic background first, and make yourself familiar with traditional symbols of Easter, such as Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny, and with some less traditional symbols, e.g. Easter Bells, Easter Baskets etc. (all in English), or find some German information about Easter and its symbols here (incl. the Easter Lamb, the Easter Fire, the Easter Candle and the Easter Water).

In German speaking countries, when church bells stay silent from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday, we say, that "the bells have flown to Rome" and will only return as soon as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Colleagues from an Austrian primary school collected wonderful information about European Easter traditions. All their texts are in German. 

Teachers will certainly find some useful information, incl. fun, games and crafts at the  Easter-Resources for L2 Teachers.

If you are then still interested in some more links concerning Easter, you could try Easter Traditions and Easter Around the World (both in English) and Kirchenweb (in German). Another interesting site is the BBC Easter site.

If you are interested in special Easter recipes, The Worldwide Gourmet may have something useful for you.

© Susanne Pratscher