5 German Easter traditions   A Bunny With a Basketful of Eggs

The snow’s melting, sunbeams are dancing across the sky again, and the first blossom is pushing its way out of the buds – spring is coming in Germany. As the new season begins, one of Germany’s favourite floppy-eared friends isn’t far away: the Easter bunny. And along with the bunny, more traditions and customs make their way into German homes as people prepare to celebrate Easter.

A Well-Rounded Classic: Easter Eggs

Easter eggs may lack variety in shape, but they certainly come in every colour. They are either hard‑boiled, cooled, and dyed with food colouring for eating, or alternatively transformed into decorations. For the ornamental option, the raw eggs are blown out, leaving just the shell behind. They are then dyed or artistically painted. Once finished, the decorated eggs can be hung on trees in the garden or little branches around the home, for instance. What’s the pro hack to achieve the perfect shine on the coloured eggs? Rub cooking oil all over the shell. It isn’t really clear why eggs in particular are exchanged and eaten at Easter. Early Christians traditionally dyed Easter eggs red, a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus, which is celebrated at Easter. But eggs were actually being decorated long before Christianity was invented, for example in ancient Egypt. If you don’t have time to dye them yourself, you can also buy ready-made Easter eggs in any German supermarket throughout the Easter season – or you can just hope that the Easter bunny hides some in your garden on Easter Sunday.

Stups, der kleine Osterhase,

fällt andauernd auf die Nase. Ganz egal wohin er lief, immer ging ihm etwas schief. (Stups, the little Easter bunny, keeps falling flat on his face. Wherever he goes, something always goes wrong.) These are the lyrics of a famous German children's song by Rolf Zuckowski. Clumsy or not, the Easter bunny – originally a hare – shapes the German Easter celebration like no other tradition. As soon as the last chocolate Santa is sold, the supermarket shelves are filled with chocolate bunnies. More than 200 million chocolate bunnies are produced each year in Germany alone. According to folklore, other animals such as the cuckoo, the fox and the rooster originally brought Easter eggs as well, but it was the hare that won out in the end. For centuries, it has been a symbol of fertility and of new beginnings in spring. Long ago it symbolised Jesus Christ, and in pagan cultures it was probably considered to be a sacred animal associated with Ostara, the Germanic goddess of spring. The hare was linked with eggs from as early as 1682. However, the reason the bunny became the bearer of these round gifts is still not fully understood.

The Easter Lamb

Another furry friend we mustn’t forget at Easter is the lamb. It is one of the best‑known Christian Easter symbols and, as a sacrificial animal, it represents the death of Jesus on the cross and the sacrifice he made for humanity. At the same time, the tradition also harks back to the Jewish Passover festival, which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites and their exodus from Egypt. A sacrificial lamb was used here to symbolise an allegiance to the Israelites. Even outside religious contexts, lambs born in spring – like hares and eggs – are regarded as symbols of fertility and new beginnings. While German families don’t bring actual sheep into their homes at Easter, they do celebrate with lamb-shaped cakes.

Fire and Light

Another custom, shaped by Christianity yet rooted in pagan traditions, is the Easter bonfire. They are lit in villages, where they bring the local community together. The pagan spring ritual was meant to symbolically drive away the evil spirits of winter and welcome the arrival of spring, while the Christian Easter fires in turn symbolise the resurrection of Christ. Easter candles are often lit from the Easter bonfire, bringing light into churches that were previously dark. Anyone wishing to witness truly impressive Easter bonfires will find them in many regions of Germany, but they are particularly widespread in the north.

Resurrection Live: the Passion Play

Anyone interested in the Christian story behind Easter will find the Passion Play especially rewarding. Much like the nativity play at Christmas, it reenacts the biblical story of the festival: the final days of Jesus, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. The theatrical performances combine faith, culture, and drama. They were widespread across Europe in the Middle Ages and are performed in Germany today, mainly in the Catholic state of Bavaria. The performance usually lasts several hours, sometimes even days, and the oldest records date back as far as the 13th century. The Passion Plays in Oberammergau, Bavaria, which have been performed since the 17th century and have been part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2014, are well-known all over the world. After the Second World War, they were criticised for a long time for their negative and antisemitic portrayal of Jews as “responsible for the death of Jesus”. The Passion Plays in Oberammergau are performed only once every ten years, with the next one scheduled for 2030. So anyone who would like to experience the spectacle in person still has time to plan an Easter trip to Germany!

March 2026