Easter around the world 8 surprising Easter traditions

Easter is celebrated around the globe. But "Eiertütschen" is not known everywhere. Find out here how the resurrection of Christ is celebrated in other cultures and countries.

Dyeing or searching for Easter eggs, "Eiertütschen" or Easter brunch: this is how many people in Switzerland celebrate Easter.

But how do people in other countries with a Christian faith celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who overcame death and ascended to heaven? An overview of six other, sometimes seemingly bizarre, customs.

For a first, rather unusual custom, you only have to look across the border to neighboring Germany. In the northern part of the country, a pagan custom has been transformed into a Christian one over the course of time.

In Lüdge (North Rhine-Westphalia), for example, people set fire to giant wheels filled with straw. The hay is usually set alight on the night before Easter Sunday and the burning wheels are rolled down into the valley.

The custom is said to drive away winter spirits and all evil. Spring and the return of nature are welcomed.

The fire represents the sun and the light that triumphs over the darkness. Some believe that the custom can be used to predict how the coming harvest will turn out.

A little further north, the Irish have an interesting Easter custom. On Easter Sunday, the Irish carry herrings to their graves, usually in rural areas. The reason: the burial of the fish marks the end of Lent, when only fish may be eaten instead of meat. People dig the graves before the solemn procession.

After mass on Easter Sunday, a wild egg fight begins in Bulgaria. People throw the Easter eggs against the walls of the church, but even their own families are not spared. If the egg remains undamaged, a happy and successful year lies ahead.

With this in mind: no more egg hunting.

The Finns don't just focus on harmony at Easter either. On Palm Sunday (the sixth and last Sunday of Lent), they lightly beat each other on the back with a birch rod.

These are meant to be reminiscent of the palm fronds with which Jesus was greeted on his entry into Jerusalem. On Easter Sunday, the children then run through the streets shouting - after all, winter is supposed to be driven away.

Long cowls with pointed hoods - if the sight of fully masked men makes you think of a racist group from the USA, it's something completely different on Mallorca at Easter.

The full-masked men, mostly men, parade through the streets of the Spanish island with crosses on their backs during the Easter procession. The vestments go back to medieval brotherhoods and trace the way of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Warning: In the island nation of the Philippines, some believers celebrate a particularly radical form of self-mortification: they have themselves nailed to a wooden cross with real nails, in the image of Jesus Christ. The ordeal begins on the way to the crucifixion:

The men march barefoot through the streets, brutally beating themselves on the back with whips prepared with glass splinters to atone for their sins.

Onlookers standing by the side of the road also kick and beat the fanatical Jesus followers on their painful "crusade". The procedure is so violent and bloody that even the Vatican has spoken out against it.

Two other bizarre Easter customs originate from the Philippines. One custom states that believers must have seen the inside of seven churches on Maundy Thursday. The second custom involves parents pulling their children up into the air by the head. This ritual is believed to help the children grow up and become healthy.

You should pack your rain jacket for a walk on Easter Monday, even in spring-like April weather. Don't forget a spray gun or bucket of water. The custom of the Polish water battle "Smigus Dyngus" is said to date back to the year 966, when the Polish ruler of the time was baptized and converted Poland to Christianity.

During Easter, Norwegians go into thriller fever. The Norwegian Easter tradition of "Påskekrimmen" can be found in books, on the radio and on television. There are even detective stories on milk cartons.

So what does Swiss Easter look like? We asked in Zurich.