Easter

No post today

March 21, 2008 By Graham 2 Comments

I have always been fascinated by the way that post boxes in the UK make a special mention of Good Friday. On this day the post is collected at a different time to the rest of the year.

It’s one of the quirks that as a British ex-pat I think about today, along with having a lack of hot-cross buns to eat.

There are not many things that I miss about the UK, and most of the things that I do I bring back to Germany with me.

But the postal collection on Good Friday is one that I cannot bring with me, and Germany does not collect the post on any bank holidays.

I guess it’s just a piece of culture that I will have to do without. I wonder how long it will last for?

Come to think of it, does anyone know why this exception exists in the first place?

Filed Under: Easter, Post Tagged With: collection, good friday, hot-cross buns, Post, postbox

Ostern

March 19, 2008 By Graham Leave a Comment

Easter is called Ostern in German. The Easter Week starts on Palm Sunday as is known as the Karwoche. Its climax starts on Maundy Thursday, known as Gründonnerstag and is followed by Karfreitag, Karsamstag, Ostersonntag and Ostermontag.

Traditionally people either go to Church on Saturday evening to a service called the Osterfeuer or on Sunday morning.

Also on Sunday morning children hunt for Easter Eggs, Ostereier, around the flat or in the garden.

Easter marks the end of Lent, so people eat meat again on Easter Sunday. They eat pork, beef or even rabbit and can start drinking alcohol again.

Karfreitag, Ostersonntag and Ostermontag are public holidays, so all of the shops are closed.

The date on which Easter falls varies from year to year, but can be calculated. It can be anytime between the 22nd March and 25th April. The exact fomula is known as “Computus” (see Wikipedia for more details).

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