Easter eggs

Colourfully decorated eggs belong to Easter as the tree belongs to Christmas. But where did this tradition come from?

In many cultures, eggs are a symbol of spring and fertility. They are also often referred to as a symbol of life and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the so-called »red egg« they became a symbol for the Risen Christ as well as his blood. This way they became part of our Easter customs. The tradition of the Easter egg has reached Germany around the 12^th or 13^th century.

After the 40-day period of Lent, in which a lot of Catholics and orthodox Christians refrain from eating eggs and meat, they were welcomed back into the people’s diet on Easter. The eggs were consecrated in church and were then dyed red and presented to family and friends as gifts.

Eggs were only painted in other colours starting in the 17^th century, when people began decorating them with Christian symbols. Often, one would blow out the eggs to put a note inside the shell to wish the receiver of the gift good fortune. Nowadays the eggs that are blown out after the Sorbian tradition for baking cake are decorated and hung up in the branches of trees. You can also find eggs made out of plastic used as decoration in a similar fashion.

Children are only allowed to look for their dyed and decorated eggs on the morning of Easter Sunday. This tradition was first mentioned in the diary of the abbot Jacob of monastery Schuttern in the year of 1691. Depending on the region, it was said that either the rooster, the fox, the stork or the rabbit brought these hidden eggs. Nowadays the Easter Bunny is recognized as the bringer of Easter eggs in many different countries.