This weekend I shared in another german custom, the “Easter Fire” in the mountains near Sauerland. I believe it was near Plettenburg or Herscheid but I got car sick on the way to and from because of the all the curvy roads, so my eyes were closed most of the trip. My equilibrium is used to the straight roads of Florida.
For the fire, all leftover Christmas trees and fallen wood in the surrounding areas are collected and burned in a special place, making a huge fire, clearing away the last signs of the winter and preparing for the spring. Practical, eh.
On our way through the mountains, Easter bonfires were blazing simultaneously on the hill-tops. I counted at least 6 within one sight, but, I presume, they started early for the kids…or for the beer. This tradition is celebrated mostly over north and central germany, such as Westphalia. There weren’t any superstitious ceremonies associated with this particular fire and a small tent was set up several feet away for wurst and beer. A couple of men used a flame thrower to set the wet wood afire through a hole in two sides of the 10 foot pile. After an hour and one Wurst later, the fire was just simmering in the center and no one really around to enjoy or work it. So Alex and I started to untangle the outside limbs and throw them into the center. Pretty fun because we had to toss them high to get them to the already burning wood, this lasted about 1 hour until others started to get interested and people crowded around 15 feet away because the fire was white and blue hot. Did I mention I like fire?
