South Tyrol is deeply connected to many old customs and traditions that are observed throughout the region and celebrated during Easter.
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. On this day, children go to church carrying the traditional “Palmbesen”, a bundle of olive and willow branches decorated with colorful ribbons. The blessed olive bundle is then kept in the home and, in some places, used to decorate the so‑called “Herrgottswinkel” (the Lord’s corner or prayer corner).
In South Tyrol, on the Sunday before Easter, families choose the “Palmesel”, the “palm donkey”. In other words, the family member who gets up last and arrives late at the breakfast table receives this playful title.
In many churches, there is also the tradition—on the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, just before the first Sunday of Advent—of children lighting a large fire using the “Palmbuschen” (wooden sticks decorated with colorful branches). The fire is blessed and the embers are kept to light the first candle of the Advent wreath.
On Maundy Thursday, it is customary to color Easter eggs, hanging them on a tree or branches as a sign of good fortune in the home. The dyes used are usually natural: wild herbs, tree leaves, flowers, or onion skins, which create beautiful patterns and vibrant colors.
On Holy Saturday, Lent comes to an end, and Easter baskets are filled with “Fochaz” (the traditional Easter bread), sweet leavened focaccia, fresh garden horseradish, speck, ham, lamb, and Easter eggs. These baskets are first taken to church to be blessed and then enjoyed at the Easter table.
Easter Sunday is eagerly awaited by children, who must find the hiding place of the Easter Bunny, ready with a basket full of eggs and sweet surprises. Children usually receive a gift from their godparents. It is customary to give boys a rabbit‑shaped bread and girls a hen‑shaped one. Tradition also says that young women give an Easter egg to the man they hope to marry within the year.
Among the most important Easter traditions is “Osterpecken” or “Preisguffen”, the traditional egg‑tapping contest, where the winner is the one who cracks the opponent’s egg first.
Easter on the table
Easter meatballs in Trentino are made with minced lamb, rosemary, shallots, and parsley, wrapped in pork caul, browned in hot oil, and then baked or cooked in sauce.
Easter also coincides with the harvest of white asparagus from Zambana, in Trentino. Some ideas for your Easter meals include asparagus flan with Prague ham, an appetizer of asparagus with eggs and speck, or asparagus risotto.
For dessert, we suggest the traditional Trentino Easter wreath, made from flour, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, fresh cream, and lemon juice, shaped into a wreath and decorated with hard‑boiled eggs.
