Celebrating Easter (Oster) in Germany introduced us to some interesting and fun new ideas/treats and provided an opportunity to tour the countryside in search of "Easter." I slipped away to Trier for an Easter market, colored eggs, found the Easter bunny and attended a couple Holy Week services in Olsbrücken and Köln.
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Lion's club in Trier helps a local organization by selling Easter egg coloring kits.
My dad is a long time member of Lions, so this was money well spent! |
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Later the boys colored the plastic eggs
--oil paint drops in some water, swirl and dip!
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No Easter Market in Germany could possibly be complete without Easter liquor (it was quite good!) and Sugar bunnies....the market also had tents selling waffles, scented cedar balls, outdoor decor, hand stamped fabrics and of course, bratwurst!
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| Hard boiled, beautifully colored eggs were everywhere in Germany --just sitting out on the counter at the backerei, or on the shelf at the grocery. Apparently our American obsession with keeping eggs cold is in fact, our American obsession....The backerei also had a host of tasty bunny shaped treats, some better than others. The carrot muffins were super tasty and became very hard to resist!!! |
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| Easter morning breakfast showcases our attempt at coloring hard boiled eggs. A little less stellar, but they tasted great. The bright colored striped ones next to the muffins were on the shelf at the grocery. Interesting crumbly yolk, and no one got sick from these "warm" eggs. Breakfast also included fresh speck ~bacon like you've never tasted bacon before~ blaubeere muffins und Ostertasche (a perfect little apricot topped danish that looks like an egg!) |
A word about Holy Week...while much of Germany seemed to be focused on bunnies and selling sweets, just like in the "States," Holy Week took on its' intended purpose by Thursday evening. EVERYTHING closed until Saturday morning --the grocery stores, bakeries, butchers, banks, etc...for the observance of Karfreitag (quiet Friday). It was spectacularly quiet in our village except for the occasional bell toll. Most of the protestant church services were held in the morning, the Catholic services in the evening --many villages share the same worship space and have worked wonderfully together to share beautiful, historic, centuries-old buildings. I attended a service in Olsbrücken where the tolling bells at 5:00pm echoed throughout the valley. Built in the late 19th century, the church's old organ ground out strains of familiar hymns, sung quite enthusiastically by the 50+ people in attendance. Sitting in the super cold structure, listening to the German preacher, enjoying the organ in it's not so tunefulness; I was able to follow along fairly well! At the end of the service the collection was taken up outside the sanctuary and surprisingly, after a long, quiet Karfreitag, people were chatty, although not to me so much....it's ok, I wouldn't have understood much of their conversation anyway!
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| Many villages had Easter trees / arches for decoration..some more elaborate than others. |
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| Easter Montag (Monday) is also a National Holiday --a perfectly quiet and traffic free day to drive to the airport without any gridlock to pick up Jennifer! Holiday closures didn't hamper our start to a week of exploring--attending Easter mass at UNESCO world heritage site: Köln Cathedral, and a picnic lunch (consisting of leftover hb eggs!) on the square were just the ticket! The service in the cathedral was amazing --the 5 second delay from the massive organ was awesome and the men's choir was superb! |
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| People have been worshipping on this site since Constantine declared religious freedom in 313. The current structure was built from 1248-1880 (632 year project) and amazingly kept it's original Gothic architectural intentions. |
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| The top of the Köln Cathedral spiral from our view. It is Germany's most visited landmark (20,000 people per day) and largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe with twin spires stretching 515 feet skyward, which we climbed for the beautiful view of the city. The flowered cross was carried during the processional and the gold box contains the relics of the Three Magi --brought to this site in 1164. |
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| Jennifer & me in the spire |
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| the organ...1 of 2 in the sanctuary! |
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No cathedral is complete without stained glass...stumbled upon St George
slaying the dragon here in Köln!
Until next Easter....
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Linda, Just read your Easter experiences! It sounds as though things are in the right perspective with secular and religious. I would love to see everything close down for 5 days because of a religious holiday!
ReplyDeleteYou are so good at describing your experiences that I almost feel as though I am there with you. Thanks much for taking the time to do all of this and to share with us. I am really enjoying all your travels and experiences! Linda
Linda,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed seeing and reading all about your Easter adventures.
Thanks!