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Peace, joy, tooth decay: the Easter bunnies - here in Hornow, Brandenburg (2010)
Photo: Patrick Pleul / DPA
Who got us into this, heavenly sacrament?
Anyone who has ever staggered dead tired through the garden on Easter Sunday morning and stuffed colorfully wrapped sweets under bushes, tables, benches, in flowerpots, shoes and watering cans at record speed will have asked themselves this question.
It wasn't the Almighty, that much is clear.
But then who is to blame for the fact that every year we rush out at dawn, in constant panic, to be discovered by excited youngsters, always striving to be something more original than last year?
Who can we hold accountable for either fainting or throwing a tantrum trying to accidentally blow out eggs, depending on our temperament and the outcome of our efforts?
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Colorful protein frenzy: conveyor belt with Easter eggs
Photo: Stefan Puchner / picture alliance / dpa
What is certain is that the egg was already considered a symbol of life in ancient times.
In Christianity it developed into a sign of the resurrection of Jesus: It holds life within itself - just as the grave holds Christ within it, who then rises from it.
The custom of giving away eggs at Easter has been around since the 16th century.
At that time, eggs were taboo during the Christian Lent - but of course the chickens continued to lay them.
To preserve them, they were boiled and traditionally colored red.
Red is considered the color of life, but also a sign of the blood of Christ.
Today, boiled Easter eggs shimmer in all colors - also because many people are no longer too familiar with the Christian dimension of this festival.
Eggs and rabbits as rent
The question about the Easter bunny remains: Why does he of all people have to hide the protein or chocolate bombs?
Why doesn't the fox, the magpie, the woolly milk sow that lays eggs do it?
The Romans already saw the hare as a sign of fertility because it breeds so quickly.
In the Middle Ages, farmers usually paid the taxes for the land they cultivated in kind.
One of the dates regularly fell during the Easter season, for example on Maundy Thursday.
Then hard-boiled eggs served as rent – but also rabbits.
It is therefore quite possible that this coincidence in time and the comparable symbolism led to the Easter bunny bringing the eggs being created as a figure.
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Bloody Rituals: Easter customs from around the world
It was already mentioned scientifically at the end of the 17th century.
In the work »Of Easter Eggs« (»De ovis paschalibus«), published in 1682, it is stated that in southwest Germany, the Palatinate, Alsace and Westphalia such Easter eggs were called rabbit eggs.
According to this, simple-minded people and small children were told that the Easter bunny hatched them and hid them in the grass.
A shameful lie.
But one that to this day is believed well into elementary school age.
Also because it wants to be believed: the custom is simply too glorious to be endangered or even ended by rational arguments.
A fire against the dark
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Reliably divides minds: film-loving visitors to the Easter bonfire in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Lüdke (2019)
Photo: Caroline Seidel / picture alliance / dpa
Another ritual that often pits environmentalists and pyromaniacs against each other at Easter is the Easter fire.
What's it all about?
Why do people build a pyre to mark the resurrection of Christ?
Spring was already welcomed by the Germans with a fire - it was supposed to drive away the dark season, witches and ghosts.
The first Christian Easter bonfires were probably around 750 in France, and they have been known in German-speaking countries since the 11th century.
Wood and twigs are collected and stacked over the winter.
In the night from Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday, the fire is then kindled in front of the church as part of the Christian Easter Vigil celebration, the Easter candle is lit and carried into the dark church.
In many places in Germany, however, little attention is now paid to this religious context.
The Easter bonfire, which is also popular on other Easter days, has mutated into a social event.
You chat, eat, drink – and start thinking about where to hide your eggs this year.
With material from dpa