Palmsonntag

Palmsonntag (Palm Sunday) is the Sunday before Easter.

On this day the Church remembers Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, riding a donkey, where the bystanders waved palm leaves and hailed “Hosana”.

In addition the Catholic Church remembers Christ’s suffering – the so-called Passion, whereas the Protestant Church does this later on in the week on Good Friday.

On this day people go to Church and take palm leaves with them to be blessed.

Two other traditions on this day are:

  • the Palmesel – the last person in the family to get up on this Sunday
  • the Palmhase – like the Easter Bunny, except it brings one or two eggs on Palmsonntag and is a tradition in the Odenwald – part of Hessen.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Download a transcript

Download the MP3 file | Subscribe to the podcast

 

Content not available.
Please allow cookies by clicking Accept on the banner
About Graham

Graham Tappenden is a British ex-pat who first came to Germany as a placement student in 1993, returning in 1995 to live there permanently. He has been writing for AllThingsGerman.net since 2006. When not writing blog posts or freelancing for the Oberurseler Woche and other publications he works as a self-employed IT consultant solving computer problems and designing websites. In 2016 he gained German citizenship.

Comments

  1. Interestingly, did you know that this year St. Patrick’s day (normally March 17) is being moved to March 15 so it doesn’t clash with Palmsonntag? I thought it was interesting, at least.

  2. Interestingly, did you know that this year St. Patrick’s day (normally March 17) is being moved to March 15 so it doesn’t clash with Palmsonntag? I thought it was interesting, at least.

  3. Wow! Thanks for that – I wasn’t aware of this rule. Although I have heard the St.Patrick’s Day parades are still being held on Monday (17th) – so do people in Ireland take much notice of it being early?

  4. Wow! Thanks for that – I wasn’t aware of this rule. Although I have heard the St.Patrick’s Day parades are still being held on Monday (17th) – so do people in Ireland take much notice of it being early?

Speak Your Mind

*

Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]

This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.

Close