Easter shooting

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The youth club Bröthen on Easter Sunday 2010 at the annual Easter shooting, for safety there is a baffle wall in front of the cannon. Hearing protection is also used.

The Easter shooting is a custom that takes place on Easter Saturday and in the night from Easter Saturday to Easter Sunday in Upper Lusatia and southern Austria.

“Shooting” takes place in smaller groups, mostly consisting of young people, around a campfire or moving through the village. From midnight until the first ringing of bells on Easter morning, the gunfire from conventional cannons and special pitchers can be heard from afar. In Austria, the Easter shooting is often cultivated by local traditional groups.

In the past, such gunshots were considered very common and meant an honorary salute or salute. Often, however, evil spirits should also be driven away by thunder and lightning. As a Christian custom, the resurrection of Jesus Christ and thus the victory over death should be expressed.

For “shooting” in Upper Lusatia, a fist-sized piece of calcium carbide , also known simply as “carbide”, and a few milliliters of water are placed in a tin milk can. Then the prepared milk can is tightly closed with the rubber or wooden lid. The reaction of the water with the carbide creates ethine (also known as acetylene ), a highly flammable gas . At the bottom of the milk jug there is a small hole through which the ethine-air mixture in the milk jug is ignited after a waiting period, depending on the amount of reaction substances and the volume of the jug. Here, the lid of the milk can is blown away up to a few dozen meters with a loud bang. In some cases, Easter shooting is also practiced in the same way with cannons.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Easter shooting. Customs group Berthelsdorf (Upper Lusatia), November 10, 2008, archived from the original on July 10, 2015 ; accessed on May 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Easter customs, Easter shooting. Techelsberg customs group, June 10, 2015, archived from the original on July 10, 2015 ; accessed on May 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Historical facts about the gun shooting. Gotteszeller Böllerschützen, December 21, 2008, archived from the original on June 5, 2011 ; Retrieved January 5, 2009 .