Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter
Palm Sunday marks the start of the Easter celebrations. And in Hall, it actually begins a week earlier, when our twin town of Arco brings the olive branches to Hall.
We are now rapidly approaching Easter. In Tyrol, the Easter season is characterised above all by tradition and faith. The Haller Easter Market, the “Kunst am Ei” exhibition, the performances as part of the Easter Festival, as well as the many church traditions such as Palm Sunday and the Easter graves, are all central to these Easter traditions. In Hall in Tirol, the Easter celebrations “begin” a week before Palm Sunday.
Olive branches from Arco
Hall and Arco in Trentino have long been closely linked by tradition. Every year, on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, a delegation from the Trentino Schützen comes to Hall, bringing fresh mimosa and olive branches for the people of Hall. The festive procession of the delegations and the ceremonial salute are accompanied by music from the Hall Salinenmusik band. Following a bilingual service in the parish church of St Nicholas, everyone is invited to help themselves to fresh olive branches to make palm bouquets and stalks.
Making palm bouquets
Making palm bunches is a lovely annual tradition in families and/or church communities. First and foremost, the palm bunch symbolises Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. But the palm branch has many other interesting meanings as well, and also a special use at the end of the year.
Everyone makes their own palm bouquet in their own way, using whatever plants they can find in their garden or the surrounding area. In fact, however, the palm bouquet consists of seven very special plants that are believed to offer protection. The number 7 refers, amongst other things, to the seven-day story of creation. The plants in the palm bouquet almost always symbolise eternal life, renewal and the cycles of life.
What we use to tie our palm fronds...
As well as the plants, you will need pruning shears, binding wire and a pair of pliers. Colourful ribbons and yeast-dough pretzels are used for decoration.
This year, we have incorporated the following plants:
- Olive branches from Arco: symbolise Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem
- Heather: represents home and sentiment
- Boxwood: immortality
- Cypress: vitality and health
- Willow or catkins: spring and an important source of nectar for bees
The herb farmer traditionally ties white, red and green ribbons into a palm branch: red for the blood of Christ, white for innocence and the Resurrection, and green for hope. Of course, other colours are allowed too. Now all that’s missing are the pretzels. Many people bake these themselves. Otherwise, you can buy them directly from farm shops, at farmers’ markets or at local bakeries such as the Bucher Bakery in Hall.
The significance and recipe for palm-shaped pretzels
In the past, young men would give their sweethearts a palm-shaped pretzel as a token of love, and children would receive a pretzel from their godparent. Pretzels are regarded as bringers of good luck and blessings. The shape of the pretzel is said to symbolise a person deep in prayer, with their arms crossed over their chest. Our pretzel recipe makes around 80 small pretzels.
The ingredients
Ingredients for palm-shaped pretzels
- 1 kg spelt white flour
- 1 cube of yeast
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 60–80 g melted butter
- 80 g sugar
- 0.5 l lukewarm liquid (milk and water mixture)
Mix all the ingredients together and do not leave the yeast dough to rise for too long. Important: Weigh out pieces of dough weighing 2 dag (=20 grams) each, roll them into 30 cm long “sausages”, shape them into pretzels and bake in the oven at 180 degrees (fan) until lightly browned.
Palm Sunday, palm branches and male ambition
Whilst girls mainly carry palm fronds, the boys carry palm poles. And there’s only one thing that matters: the higher, the better! Incidentally, anyone who fails to carry their ‘Palmlatte’ – as it’s often called in Tyrol – upright throughout the entire procession is awarded the title of ‘Palmesel’ at the end of the day.
A very different Palm Sunday donkey – ancient and carved from wood – can be admired in Hall and Thaur. On Palm Sunday, weather permitting, the centuries-old Palm Sunday donkey is led in a solemn procession from the Upper Town Square through the alleys of Hall’s old town to the parish church. Apart from the art-historical value of the life-sized Palm Sunday donkey, carved in 1430, the sculpture has a distinctive feature: the donkey’s belly is hollowed out and used to be filled with bread. To the delight of the children, the previously blessed bread would rattle out of the open belly compartment as the procession made its way over the cobblestones. A good old custom that has, sadly, fallen by the wayside! Instead, today we have blessed pretzels. Mmm!
Palm Sunday procession in Thaur
The Palm Sunday donkey and the statue of Christ from Thaur in Tyrol are a good 240 years old. This ensemble stands on a small cart which altar servers pull during the procession up to the little Romedi church. The Thaur procession sets off from Thaur parish church.
Palm branches and the Twelve Days of Christmas
The blessed palm fronds are hung up to dry in the altar niche at the end of the day. They remain there until the Rauhnächte, the period between Christmas and Epiphany. Together with incense, pieces of the palm branch are set alight in a pan filled with charcoal or using an iron. The house, farmyard and stables are then fumigated. It is also a common practice, when a storm is brewing, to set parts of the palm branch alight on the hearth fire to ward off lightning and thunder. Further information about the Rauhnächte and their significance is available on our Magical Rauhnacht Tours in December and January.
With this in mind, we wish our readers a peaceful time of preparation for Holy Week and a blessed Easter!