Easter Traditions from SalzburgerLand

SALZBURGERLAND, Austria - March 2, 2021 - PRLog -- Austria's SalzburgerLand (www.salzburgerLand) honours Easter above all other religious festivals and while many areas uphold ancient traditions, Salzburger Lungau is the most loyal to its historic customs:

• Egg-dyeing (Grawirlacheier) goes back to the 12^th century: until recently red was the official colour. Eggs are collected on Maundy Thursday, wrapped tightly in a linen cloth covered in onion skins, chervil and spring petals and hard boiled (onion skin creates Lungau's traditional brown colour).
• Since 700AD all 15 Lungau hamlets build 12m bonfire towers to ignite on Holy Saturday. They burn through to Easter Sunday.
• On Good Friday and Holy Saturday, Lungau kids (Ratscher Boys) visit all houses singing and rattling their ratchets: residents bribe them to shut up with gifts!
• The ancient Easter Monday Gones Race sees the young men and women couple up: one boy, is the Gones (gander). He shouts a rhyme to set the first couple running. If he catches the girl, her male counterpart becomes the Gones.

In Saalbach, villagers take lunch to church on Easter Sunday for consecration. Only after the Eierpecken (egg-tapping – similar to a conker fight) ritual ends can lunch begin.

In Grossarl local farmers sing Easter hymns on the hour from 8-m to 4am on Good Friday. On Holy Saturday the villagers takeover to sing the Crucifixion and Resurrection story – their Mount of Olives & Passion of Christ choral tribute.

A more recent tradition, established 1967, is The Salzburg Easter Festival (www.osterfestspiele-salzburg.at/en) which this year takes place from 2-5 April and features a star-studded cast.

Osterpinze is traditional throughout SalzburgerLand at Easter: a delicious cross between bread and cake, most families have their own secret recipe. If you would like a copy of the recipe, please don't hesitate to ask by email: info@mediacontactspr.co.uk – we wish you a HAPPY EASTER and look forward to hearing from you.