Osterwasser or Easter water is water collected on Easter early in the morning, before sunrise. It is said to have healing and protective powers and won’t go bad.

On Saturday before Easter many cities in Germany celebrate with an Osterfeuer (Easter Fire). An Easter Wheel (Osterrad) though is a regional custom.

Good Friday or Karfreitag is the day when Jesus was crucified. Different regions in Germany have different customs associated with this day, from “Ratschen” to processions, from eating fish to eating “Struwen”.

Osterbrunnen are decorated fountains and wells that are common in Franconian Switzerland during Easter. They are decorated with colorful eggs and greenery garlands.

The Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday or Gründonnerstag (Green Thursday) in German. What’s so green about that day and what customs are celebrated?

Palmsonntag or Palm Sunday starts the Holy Week which ends with Easter Sunday. Some (German) customs around Palm Sunday include processions and Palmbuschen.

We all know that the Easter bunny brings the Easter eggs. But it wasn’t always just the bunny; for example there was the fox – der Osterfuchs.