In every part of the world, Easter calls for a time to celebrate and spend some lovely moments with your closest family and relatives. Same as any other country, Switzerland has its own traditions, customs, and interesting gifts. But, Switzerland is super interesting because each part of the country has, at least, one specific tradition. 

So, how do Swiss celebrate Easter and what are the most significant Swiss traditions?

Preparations usually start a week earlier. People start decorating their homes, as well as shops, with chocolate and colorful bunnies, specialized Easter chocolates, Easter cakes and sweets, and of course, colorful eggs. Logically, celebrating Easter also includes celebrating the springtime. The most common Swiss tradition is that the cuckoo brings the Easter eggs. In every part of the country, there are these three crucial parts of Easter spirit and celebration – eggs, cuckoo, and baskets.

A small Easter tree, also called the Osterbaumli, is a cute Swiss tradition that also celebrates the arrival of spring. Usually, people cut sprigs off a tree and put them into a vase. Then, they add colorful Easter eggs, which, by the way, don’t have to be real ones. Plastic ones, from the supermarket, can do the trick as well.

Of course, same as many other parts of the world, Swiss Easter also can’t happen without dyed eggs. Every color is welcome, and some people, especially older ones, still prefer painting. But, there is one more tradition for more elaborately dyed eggs that include red and yellow onion skins. Besides eggs and onion skins, this process also requires old pantyhose, a bit of salt and vinegar, and some flora of people’s own choice.

As we mentioned in the introduction, Easter Sunday morning is the time for hiding eggs, Easter chocolates, and toys inside the house. When children wake up, the Easter egg hunt time comes! Among different chocolates and sweets, Swiss people prefer small and large nougat eggs, jelly eggs with sugar coat, and of course, children’s favorite – chocolate bunnies! Small Easter cakes, called Osterchuechli, are another typical Swiss treat that contains rice or semolina. Swiss people either make their own, small or large, cakes, or buy them in supermarkets and bakeries. Easter egg hunt is the definition of how Swiss celebrate Easter.

There is one more popular Easter game in Switzerland, similar to Eiertutschen, called Zwanzgerle. This tradition happens on Easter Monday. The difference is that, for Zwanzgerle, you need only one egg instead of two. Usually, the adults are those who try to break decorated eggs of their children with a twenty cent coin. If the coin cracks the eggshell and sticks in the egg, the adult claims the egg. On the other hand, the child claims the coin if the adult fails to crack the egg. The cool thing is that kids are likely to earn a few cents since it is pretty tough to do the trick with a coin. As you can see in the video, this tradition is very popular in Zurich.