Germany loves seasonality, with it’s food AND with it’s decor, today’s post is all about the latter (it’s a photo heavy post, because words don’t really do it justice).
Osterbrunnen – An Easter well or fountain
A tradition which has spread from Franconia (the Northern part of Bavaria) is the decoration of the Osterbrunnen. This is a celebration of the importance of water as a giver of life, any (and sometimes all, no matter how small) of a towns water sources will be covered in arches of evergreen and decorated with colourful eggs. Nowadays it is common to see plastic eggs but some Osterbrunnen still sport hand painted real eggshells.
The Fränkische Schweiz is the place to find go to see frankly crap loads of beautifully decorated Osterbrunnen, there are coach loads of (mainly German) tourists who visit each year. If you can get out there you should go and check them out, if not I’ll show you what I’m talking about. And it’s not just a Franconian thing the picture above is of the fountain in my home town in Baden Württemberg so go and see if you can find one near you!
The hand decorated eggs are something to be appreciated individually as well as forming part of the fountain (and display), it’s also very common to see eggs hanging from trees in gardens and also decorative eggs inside the home.
The best (and previously the world record holder) of the Osterbrunnen is in Bieberbach, you can’t miss it in this tiny town, follow the crowds and prepare to be impressed.
As you can see it really can get busy, especially in Bieberbach, the scale of the fountain will impress even the most grumpy of grumpies. If the weather is not at its best then you might even get the fountain all to yourself, like this (which was taken on a different year to the other photos).
You can find a list of places to see Osterbrunnen in the Fränkische Schweiz here, and the Easter fountains don’t get taken down until a couple of weeks after easter (in Bieberbach 18th April) so you still have time to get out there and check them out.
Does your town have an Easter fountain?
Wow! The Poles love Easter too, but the Germans take it to a whole new level! I’d love to add some of those handmade eggs to my collection! Yesterday, I bought a very ornate, beaded egg in Belgrade Serbia where they celebrate Orthodox Easter. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your lovely photos!
I love that Easter is less of a purely commercial holiday here, I don’t trust myself with the beautifully decorated real eggs, I’m too clumsy! Thanks for reading!