(RNN) – An exceptionally generous and speedy bunny has treats for all the boys and girls celebrating Easter this Sunday morning.
At least that’s the U.S. tradition, one that most likely began in the 1700s, when German immigrants to Pennsylvania brought over an egg-laying hare called the “Osterhase,” or “Oschter Haws,” from the old country.
Just like he did overseas, the Osterhase would place colored eggs in small nests the German-Pennsylvanian children made for it.
Eventually the tradition spread and evolved. Today, kids and the “Easter Bunny” have pretty much the same arrangement, just with baskets instead of nests and candy instead of eggs.
We could get into the weeds (and, yes, down a rabbit hole) figuring out how the Osterhase became an Easter symbol. Some claim it has something to do with an ancient German fertility goddess (a claim which others strongly dispute). Others say it relates to some Medieval European fixation on rabbits.
And still others maintain the rabbit is just an obvious image for springtime renewal, given its famous reproductive rate. Whatever its origins, we have a bunny now.
As for the eggs, that’s a tradition that could go way back, all the way to ancient spring festivals, where eggs symbolized new life. Some sources trace the custom of decorating eggs to the 13th century, when it was a way to celebrate the end of the Lenten season, during which eating eggs was once forbidden.
While there’s a lot more to cover in the U.S. – including that long-running White House Easter Egg Roll – what about the rest of the world?
Here’s a quick look at some fun ways people in other countries celebrate Easter:
France:
Les Cloches Volantes, or “The Flying Bells,” supply the treats here. According to French tradition, church bells in France fly to Vatican City on Good Friday to visit the pope. They return on Easter Sunday with chocolates for the kids, just in time for church services.
There’s also the enormous omelet that chefs in the town of Bessières make with several thousand eggs every Easter. It’s said the tradition dates back to when Napoleon and his army traveled through the town. The general was so impressed by the omelets there that he ordered the townspeople to cook one giant omelet for his army before he left.
Austria:
Like France, Austria too has flying church bells. No church bells ring from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday, since they’re away in Rome. In their place, altar boys sound off on wooden rattles, or “Ratschen.”
Australia:
Some conservationists have helped turn an endangered Australian marsupial called the bilby into the “Easter Bilby” in an effort to spread the word on the plight of the long-eared species.
Finland:
One Finnish tradition has a Halloween-type twist: Young children dress as Easter witches and travel door to door, trading small handmade trinkets – typically decorated willow twigs – for treats.
Czech Republic:
Speaking of willows: Young men in the Czech Republic fashion the branches of willow trees into whips to playfully spank women with – a ritual which legend says improves beauty, health and fertility because or how early willow trees bloom in the spring.
Bermuda:
You’ll see people flying homemade kites if you visit Bermuda on Easter. The tradition supposedly started with a British teacher’s lesson on Christ’s ascension to heaven, which the teacher illustrated to his students by flying a kite shaped like a cross.
Bulgaria:
People celebrate with egg fights. The traditional belief is that combatants who keep their eggs from breaking will have a successful year ahead of them.
Poland:
Men traditionally ask young women for a kiss after throwing water over their heads. It’s a custom that’s been traced back to the Easter baptism of a Polish prince in 966 AD, an act which brought Catholicism to Poland.
Greece:
People on the island of Corfu throw kitchenware out their windows. Some trace the custom back to a practice of the Venetians, who used to toss out old items on New Year’s Day.
Italy
The people of Florence don’t throw stuff out windows, but they do explode a cart – sort of. The “Explosion of the Cart” ceremony, which dates back around 350 years, consists of a ceremonial 1622-era wagon being loaded with fireworks and hauled to a public square. The fireworks are then lit with a dove-shaped rocket that flies down a wire to ignite them, setting off a glorious display for the crowd.
Spain:
The town of Verges puts on a Black Death-inspired Easter celebration called La Danza de la Muerte – The Dance of Death – in which a group of people dressed as skeletons prowl the streets. They also dance.
Germany:
Which brings us back around to Germany. They still have their Osterhase. They also have the Osterbrunnen, or “Easter fountain,” which is a fountain or well decorated with garlands and colored eggs. There’s also the Osterbaum, in which an ordinary tree is transformed into an “Easter tree” by hanging Easter eggs from its branches.
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