Worship services, customs, calls for peace - people in Saxony celebrated Easter in very different ways at the weekend. In mild temperatures, tens of thousands lined the fields and country roads in eastern Saxony on Easter Sunday to see the Sorbian Easter riders. Protestant and Catholic churches were well filled, and it was not only Christians who fetched Easter water and gathered around the Easter bonfire. Adults were baptized during the Easter Vigil - including in Dresden's Frauenkirche.
The traditional Easter and seed riding attracted tens of thousands to Lusatia - and many hikers, walkers and families to the countryside. According to police reports on Easter Monday, around 49,500 onlookers lined the processions with a total of 1,475 horses in the Sorbs' settlement area north-east of Dresden and in Ostritz south of Görlitz. There were no disruptions, according to reports. Only other road users needed "strong nerves" due to "considerable" restrictions in favor of the customs.
In the bilingual Kamenz-Bautzen-Hoyerswerda triangle, young people and men have been carrying the message of Christ's resurrection on decorated horses from their home church around the cemetery and fields to the next village on Easter Sunday for centuries - in tails and top hats, singing and praying to the ringing of bells, with crosses, church flags and the statue of the Risen Christ. The roots of the custom go back to pre-Christian times, when it was believed that riding around the fields could protect the young seeds from the evil eye.
