Easter season starts: Colorful splendor on Sorbian eggs

A few weeks before Easter, colorful and carefully designed Sorbian Easter eggs are once again being made at the local history museum in Dissen. Traditionally, the museum in the district of Spree-Neiße begins designing the eggs with visitors four weeks before Easter, said an employee of the museum. One week after Easter, the work for this year would be stopped. The time before Easter is also the time of egg painting for the Sorbs and Wends - they are known for their artistically decorated Easter eggs.

Wax is applied to the eggs in fine work. One technique involves dabbing different colored wax onto the eggs. In a second technique, the eggs are dipped in wax. The pattern is then exposed by scraping away the wax in the appropriate places. The Sorbs and Wends in Lusatia have mastered this technique for centuries. The artists sometimes work for more than eight hours on particularly intricate pictures.

Symbols have different meanings

The eggs are not painted at random. Each symbol has a meaning. The frequently painted sun, for example, stands for the beginning of spring and the awakening of life. The fine rows of so-called wolf teeth stand for the defence against evil.

The Sorbs are one of the four recognized minorities in Germany. Around 60,000 Sorbs live in Lusatia in Brandenburg and the neighboring Free State of Saxony. They have a rich cultural tradition with numerous customs such as Zampern and Waleien.