Show EASTER IN GERMANY Children Have First Place in the Seasons Season's Celebrations in Tyrol Region far famed region of the Tyrol yrol THE T Is one of the most superstitious countries in the war zone On the evening before Easter companies of musicians In queer garments still go about the country singing Easter hymns In accompaniment to mellow- mellow voiced guitars On hearing the music at t the door everyone comes out and joins in the chorus all rejoicing together to- to cether gether In the happy day In the most remote districts the Easter riding is yet customary The procession starts from the thc tiny town Easter morning with the people walking walkIng walk walk- Ing ang behind priests and on horseback and goes cross country through the fields begging the blessings blessIngs blessings bless bless- ings of heaven hea upon the and finally returns to the little church with the cross above it for or a brief service Germany Is a Protestant nation and Its Presbyterians and Lutherans do not celebrate Easter In realistic ceremonial ceremonial nial as do the Catholic countries but but as ns the Germans' Germans Christmas celebrations are first In the Christian world because of their close association with children children children chil chil- dren so on Easter Enster It Is the children who have first place In the observances of the resurrection Innumerable toys and trinkets are sold to friends and relatives of the children Every old woman oman In the market place offers for sale all aU kinds of eggs in all aU colors of cand candy porcelain glass chocolate and even wood The German children have never Dever a n doubt but that the hares lay the Easter Easter Easter ter eggs and they love lo to hear of ot the legend which German mothers tell teU them of the Duchess Rosalinde von LIndenburg her servants her family and the Easter eggs Along the Rhine this pretty tale Is as ns common at Easter as Is the story of Kris at Christmas time The duchess It seems had to flee with her family and servants from the CamIl family castle during a n cruel war and they found refuge In a mining village where the people were very sympathetic sympathetic but the fare o offered to the highborn high high- highborn born family was wretched to the taste There was never a piece of meat nor nora norn a n fish nor even an egg There was no poultry In the whole town Soon when the tho old and trusted servant servant ant of the duchess went forth to get news of ot the masters master's fate In hi the war he was told to get a coop of fowls for forthe forthe the tho general good of the village Such strange birds had never been heard of He lIe was able to do as she wished and when a brood of young oung chicks appeared appeared ap ap- in a few weeks after his return the village children were greatly exel ex ex- el cited ted The fair lady now saved up eggs for some time then invited all nU the housewives housewives house house- wives of the village to a feast when she set before them the eggs cooked In various ways When Easter approached approached ap ap- ap she was eager to arrange some sonic pleasure for the quaint little children of the town that had sheltered sheltered sheltered shel shel- her As she sho had not even an apple a nut or anything that children cla clamor or for and she did have eggs In abundance she could only offer them these She told them when they came trooping trooping troop troop- ing In that eggs are the first reviving re of spring and since she had bud colored the he eggs with mosses and bright col red ored rags of lovely dresses she hadon had on once co worn she continued the figurative telling story-telling by saying that winter inter had laid aside Its colorless mantle and was now being decked out In colors of ot the rainbow After Atter the church service all aU the children children chil chil- dren together with the duchess duchess' o own on n were led Into a neighboring wood where she told them to make nests of moss and come back to the wood after a n dinner at her house When they did return to their great grent Joy they found In each nest five beautiful colored eggs on ono of them a n rhyme being written How wonderful the hens of or tho the thou u must be to lay such pretty eggs I wish I might see them said one child and another answered I think it must have been the little hare that sprang out of the juniper bush when I 1 wanted to build my nest there The other children laughed and repeated repeated re re- re the saying and when the duke came back unharmed from the war and took away awny his wife and children en to their palace on the upper Rhine his wife set apart a fund to be expended expend expend- ed every year in giving the children of the which had sheltered the royal roal children during the war a feast of eggs at Easter Enster The custom was spread in the duchess' duchess own domains and by degrees it spread over the whole country the eggs being considered considered consid consid- ered a symbol of deliverance from sin |