I have always believed that learning a foreign language also means getting familiar with the culture that language expresses and this is the reason why I have chosen to talk about Easter traditions in Italy, in the United Kingdom and in Germany in today’s post.
Generally speaking, Easter is a very important celebration in Italy, where each city follows its own traditions. However, some rituals and customs are shared throughout the country. Children usually receive chocolate eggs with a surprise inside: strolling around and browsing the shop windows, one can find beautifully decorated chocolate eggs, some of which could be considered real culinary masterpieces. As for typical food, a world-renowned dessert is the so-called “colomba” (“dove”), a sort of cake originally born in Milan. Throughout the country, people usually take part in religious celebrations, such as the tradition Mess and various kinds of processions and parades.
In the United Kingdom, Easter is one of the most important Christian festivals too. The Easter bunny, which seems to have its origins in Germany, may actually be either a rabbit or a hare. Children believe that the Easter bunny brings them chocolate eggs, provided that they have been good. Eggs seem to be a transnational symbol, which is probably due to them being a symbol of rebirth; in England, coloured eggs are very popular and people employ different techniques to make them: King Edward I contributed to making this practice famous, since he seems to have ordered 450 eggs to be coloured in 1290.
Finally, in Germany Easter is associated as well with the resurrection of Jesus Christ as well and people celebrate it by attending religious functions, exchanging gifts and spending time with their families. Churches are usually decorated with spring flowers and some communities even hold a shared breakfast or lunch, while people usually exchange edible Easter eggs and hares as gifts. A typical tradition is the organisation of Easter egg hunts: a lot of eggs are made of chocolate, whereas boiled eggs are painted with colours and decorative eggs are made of plastic, fabrics or wood.
After this short overview exploring Easter traditions in different countries, there is only one thing for me left to do: I wish you all a happy and serene Easter!
The information for this article comes from different sources:
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/germany/easter https://www.learnenglish.de/culture/easter.html
Erika Trabattoni 