Easter from Frankfurt

Spending the Easter season in Germany brought some new views of the holiday for us. With our very first trip to the grocery store on Tuesday, Feb 10th, we noticed the massive displays of Easter candy (bunnies and chocolate in all shapes and sizes). More candy than we are used to seeing is really saying something, but Easter eggs already decorated in the store? Not only that, but they were sitting on a shelf rather than in the refrigerated section?

On Sat, March 21 we attended an Easter Market in Weisbaden, about 20 min from here, with the Dittmars. These open-air markets are held in a different city every Saturday for several weeks prior to Easter. The fun part of it for me was seeing the homemade crafts that were totally different from  anything I've ever seen.

                                                       
The highlight for Ken was finding a booth selling the best tasting
licorice (lakritze) we've ever had; each strip was 34" long!
The highlight for me was discovering a booth that sold jewelry made from silverware...the real stuff! Pam and I each picked out pendants made from spoons! Fascinating! If you want to see what can be created, Google "silverware jewelry."

Since we had been out of town last week, returning on Tuesday, March 31, we needed to go to the grocery store. We went in the evening on Thursday, Apr 2, just prior to the 4 day Easter holiday weekend, and were surprised to see more people than usual there, rushing around getting their last minute things...reminded us of what we see on Christmas Eve at home! I'm guessing there probably were a lot of family gatherings and food on this Easter weekend.

Saturday, April 4th, Ken & I took our first train ride into Frankfurt's city center. With some coaching from more experienced missionaries, and some research, we made it to the right place (and back again). We met up with five missionary couples from the other office, including the Dittmars. We walked through the flea market which is there along the side of the Main River (pronounced "mine"). You'd have to have a pretty good eye in order to find treasures among all of the stuff. Well, Pam and I, being the costume gals that we are, both caught sight of some buttons on something and headed in that direction toward them at exactly the same moment. The silver buttons were attached to a green traditional Austrian suede leather jacket which fit me perfectly..only 5 Euro ($5.65)!

The bridge across the river was the scene of a very interesting tradition. Couples believe that their love is "sealed" forever by writing their names on a padlock, attaching somewhere to the bridge and throwing the key into the river. There were tons (probably literally) of locks on the bridge! Several times a year the locks have to be removed because they become too heavy for the bridge! The bridge must be a temple because it is where you are sealed for eternity!

This was our first time seeing the downtown area and it was an interesting mix of the very old with the new and modern. One beautiful old building in the Ziyal Plaza had a balcony where Hitler stood to speak. Thousands of people were bustling around on this Easter Eve, but at 4:30 pm most people slowed down or stopped. That was the when the bells began to ring.  This was one of four occasions during the year when the 10 Cathedrals around town ring their bells for 30 minutes. We discovered a difference in the sound as we walked slowly from place to place. Ken recorded some of it, but it wouldn't download. It was quite a nice Easter experience, even if was cold and rainy!

The balcony on this building was used by Hitler to give a speech.

On Easter morning, we enjoyed hearing (through our apartment windows) the bells ringing from the nearby Churches. Normally they ring several times a day to mark the hour, but that morning they rang longer.

Ken went to the Church at 11:00 am to see the rebroadcast of the Priesthood Session of General Conference. Not many people were there. The fact that people can see the sessions on their computers make a difference, I'm sure. But we missed the feeling you get when meeting together.
Then we went to Friedrichsdorf to have Easter dinner with Ed & Pam Dittmar and the two Elders who serve in their Ward. Pam had made a traditional German meal, one which she learned from Ed's mother and has been a favorite in their family for many years: rouladen & gravy (thinly sliced beef rolled up with bacon, mustard, seasonings, sometimes pickles inside), rotkohl (red cabbage), boiled potatoes, green salad. Very fun. Then we watched the Sunday Morning Session at 6 pm with them.

When we visited Madrid recently (3-29-15 to be another post), we were driving toward Church on Sunday morning, we saw lots of people walking toward the town's main plaza, carrying stems of some type of greenery. I first noticed them because of what they were wearing: dresses and nicer clothing than we usually see on the street. I realized that it was Palm Sunday and was told that they would be having a parade. I wished that we could have stayed to see it, but on the way home from Church we saw trash cans filled with the green stems. The next day, Monday, we visited a cathedral and inside of the huge hall, we saw people preparing their "floats" for the Easter parade. The floats were very large, heavy-looking platforms which would be carried by a lot of men underneath. On top were statues of Jesus in various places, including on the cross, of course.

I really don't know how religious the people here are; I've heard that they love their cathedrals and churches but don't attend meetings as a regular practice.

We received an email today from JC & Sandi Cook, with whom we've been friends for over 50 years, who are serving a mission in Northern Germany. They shared some interesting traditions from that area (we've heard that each area of Germany is quite different). The Cooks are in a small village, involved with the local people like we are not. He is Branch President and they lead the YSA program. I want to share some of their interesting email:

"Easter traditions in Northern Germany: Easter Bunnies, Easter Markets, Easter Lambs, Easter Fires, Easter Trees! Sometimes a fox or a stork brings eggs instead of the Easter Bunny but now it's mostly the Bunny. Easter is basically 4 days [same where we are]: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Everything commercial is closed (except gas stations). On Friday we had a big Easter Brunch at Church with a beautiful little program about Christ. Saturday we went to some friends.' They had invited most of their village to the Easter fire-maybe 50 people. They all came walking with their wagons full of food for the grill. It was a sunny day but cold, no matter. Tables were brought out and set so all could enjoy the sun. It had snowed earlier in the week. Then after eating they lit the huge fire. It's supposed to welcome Spring and bring good luck to the crops. Obviously this was a tradition that was around before Christ but now it's connected to and celebrated at Easter. Usually the old Christmas tree is part of the fire. This year it was a smoky fire because the wood was wet from rain and snow. Sunday is for going to church. Monday - I'm not sure, just Easter Monday and it's a holiday."

We must not forget that Easter is really the most important holiday of the year because of what we commemorate: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are most grateful for this knowledge!