Czech Easter Traditions
Hello guys, as promised here are some Czech Easter traditions that I would like to share with you.
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Barvení vajíček (egg colouring)
Traditionally, in the Czech Republic, we colour or paint eggs for Easter. Very often, we use hard-boiled eggs, or less often (because it is harder to do) we use eggshells (this type of Easter egg is called kraslice). Kraslice takes more practice and because the eggshell is empty inside, it is much more fragile and more likely to break while painting. The hard-boiled Easter eggs are eaten afterwards, while kraslice serve as decoration.
There are multiple ways of colouring Easter eggs – you can buy a colour powder (and mix it with hot water and vinegar), you can paint the egg with wax, you can use natural ingredients for colouring (such as onion peels, blueberries or beets), and much more.
Here is a video showing the different methods of emptying an egg to make kraslice.
Here is a video showing the process of colouring eggs with onion peels.
Here is a video showing the process of colouring eggs with natural ingredients. It’s in Czech, but even if you don’t understand you can at least see the final result.
Here is a video showing how to decorate Easter eggs with wax.
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Pletení pomlázky (braiding a whip made from pussywillow twigs)
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Another Czech tradition is pletení pomlázky, or in English: braiding a whip made from pussywillow twigs. Pomlázka is then used in a way that may be shocking to some of you.
Here is a video showing how to braid a pomlázka.
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Koledování
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Traditionally, on the morning of Easter Monday boys and men go around the neighbourhood with their pomlázka and a basket, stop at every house, whip the female residents and then receive some goods in return. This process is called koledování. It’s kind of like Halloween in the USA, just weirder. Boys often recite a poem while whipping the girls, and the girls then offer them the already mentioned Easter eggs, chocolates and candy in return. Girls also put a ribbon on the boy’s pomlázka. Very often a shot of alcohol is offered to the adults. The meaning behind the whipping of the girls is for them to stay young and beautiful.
Is this tradition perceived as sexist and weird nowadays? I would say that by some people (mainly the younger generation) yes. I personally quite dislike this tradition, it’s weird and I find it to be quite humiliating. What changed in the last few decades is that in most cases not all the boys visit all the houses anymore, as naturally villages and towns grew bigger and not everyone knows everyone anymore. Now, you would only visit your family members, friends or people you know well. Still, this tradition remains quite shocking to most foreigners… and I don’t blame them. It should be also mentioned that the whipping should be gentle, and if the boy is not gentle then he’s an asshole, sorry not sorry.
Here is a Spanish (you can put English subtitles on) video talking about Czech Easter and you can see how koledování looks, you can also see some traditional Czech kroj or folk costume, which is quite cool.
Another video of koledování. Watching this video, I find this tradition so fucking weird, please don’t judge us ok? Czech people are actually quite normal.
A poem that the boys would say while whipping the girl:
Hody hody doprovody,
Dejte vejce malovaný,
Nedáte-li malovaný,
Dejte aspoň bílý,
Slepička vám snese jiný
Loose translation: Give me a coloured egg, if you don’t give me a coloured one, give me at least a white one, your hen will lay another one for you.
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Polévání vodou (ice bucket challenge but make it Easter)
There is, however, an opportunity for the girls to get their revenge. Traditionally, after noon (so 12am) or on Tuesday morning, the girls would pour buckets of cold water on the boys. The meaning behind this is also to stay young. However, this part of the tradition is not very present in the Czech Republic, and I have personally never seen anyone doing this (at least not where I come from, I am sure there are some regions where this happens).
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Velikonoční beránek (Easter lamb)
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A traditional sponge cake baked in a cake pan in the shape of a lamb. I think in the context of Easter it has a religious meaning, as Jesus is often called God’s lamb.
A baking video here.
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Mazanec
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Sweet bread, round, often with almond flakes on top.
A baking video here.
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No Easter egg hunt
It may come as a surprise to some of you, but the Easter egg hunt does not exist in the Czech Republic.
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Decorations
For Easter, Czech families often decorate their homes. Typically we use colours representing spring such as yellow, green and pink. We make sure to have a lot of flowers at home such as daffodils, tulips or golden rain (laburnum anagyroides). You would also find a lot of bunny, chicken or lamb decorations, as these animals are closely tied with Easter and spring in the Czech Republic.
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This may be the longest post I have ever made in my life, so I hope you like it!
PS: I would like to point out that there are more Czech Easter traditions in the Czech Republic, I mentioned just a few (those that I find to be the most present and traditional), but of course as everywhere, each family’s traditions can be different. The traditions can also differ based on the location (Moravia has slightly different traditions than West Bohemia for example). So if you are a Czech person and don’t feel happy about the traditions I chose, feel free to correct me or add more.
Veselé Velikonoce!
