By: Karolina Blaha-Black
It is spring in the Czech Republic. The birds are chirping and the bees are buzzing around pollinating the flowers. The boys are chasing the girls with braided twigs of willow, decorated with long colorful ribbons. Women can be seen painting kraslice, the colorful Easter eggs and the smell of Easter pastries is coming from the open window. That is a picture of Easter in the Czech Republic, and many of these old traditions have stayed with the Czechs until modern times, practiced both in the villages and in the towns.
One of the most widely practiced traditions during the time of Easter (Velikonoce) in the Czech Republic is the custom called pomlazka. During Easter Sunday (the day of Easter) girls decorate and paint eggs in preparation for Easter Monday, (the Monday following Easter) the day when the boys will be going around Easter-caroling. The boys also prepare for Easter Monday by weaving together the young willow switches, making a “mrskacka,” sometimes also called “pomlazka”, same as the actual custom. However, in these days mrskacka are readily available in the stores and the boys and men just buy them, rather than making them. Taking these switches, they go into the houses of the girls and women on Easter Monday and whip them lightly on the legs with them, reciting a traditional Easter rhyme. The girls, in return, give them eggs that they painted or decorated on the previous day. Some favorite colors to give include red, blue, yellow and green. Some girls also substitute chocolate eggs and candy for real eggs. Some girls also tie a colorful ribbon on the boys’ Easter switch. The boys then go from house to house and their switch fills up with ribbons as well as their sack, which they carry, gets heavy with eggs and candy. This ancient tradition originated back in the Pagan times when the whipping of the girls was supposed to assure good health for the girl who was being whipped. Now, the symbolic and religious meanings all but forgotten, these traditions are performed mostly for fun.
Another widespread Czech Easter tradition is the painting of kraslice or Easter eggs. They can be decorated in a variety of different ways, from using food coloring, wax, onion peelings, or Easter stickers. Some of the eggs have complex designs, so they require a certain level of expertise in painting and their price usually reflects that. My favorite are simple kraslice, which are simply done at home by boiling the eggs along with onion peelings. The eggs will turn a beautiful golden hue and can be decorated with stickers or other decorative things.
Traditional Czech Easter animals such as the bunny rabbit and chicks are similar to the Easter traditions in America. In addition, Czechs traditionally bake an Easter lamb, usually made from sweet bread. The pastry has the form of a lamb and is dusted with powdered sugar to show that it is a white lamb. Mazanec is another Easter pastry, made from sweet bread that is braided like the mrskacka.
So, next time you are in the Czech Republic and it happens to be the Easter season, don’t forget to participate in some of the fun Easter traditions! I guarantee you will have fun!
For more information visit:
How to Vacation in Eastern Europe