Sunday, April 14th

Easter egg painting tradition alive in Germany

Easter eggs are on display at a traditional Easter Market of Germany's Sorb minority in the village Neuwiese, near the city of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2019. A tiny Slavic minority in Germany is keeping alive a long and intricate tradition of hand-painting Easter eggs with the help of knifes, feathers and wax. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

ELSTERHEIDE, Germany (AP) - A small Slavic minority in eastern Germany is keeping alive a long, intricate tradition of hand-painted Easter eggs that's been passed down by Sorbian families for generations.

At an Easter egg market in Elsterheide near the Saxon town of Hoyerswerda, around two dozen egg painters showed off their trade on Sunday.

Werner Zaroba said he learned the craft from his grandparents, remembering how as a child on Good Friday, "we would paint the eggs to give them to our godparents as an Easter present."

Decades later, the elderly man sticks to the tradition. He dips the eggs into a color bath, then using fine knives he scratches delicate patterns on the surface of the eggshell.

Zaroba says it takes him up to seven hours to decorate one egg alone.

A woman decorates an Easter egg with wax at a traditional Easter Market of Germany's Sorb minority in the village Neuwiese, near the city of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2019. A tiny Slavic minority in Germany is keeping alive a long and intricate tradition of hand-painting Easter eggs with the help of knifes, feathers and wax. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Children dressed in traditional Sorb clothes perform at an Easter Market of Germany's Sorb minority in the village Neuwiese, near the city of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2019. A tiny Slavic minority in Germany is keeping alive a long and intricate tradition of hand-painting Easter eggs with the help of knifes, feathers and wax. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Werner Zaroba presents an Easter egg to the photographer at a traditional Easter Market of Germany's Sorb minority in the village Neuwiese, near the city of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2019. A tiny Slavic minority in Germany is keeping alive a long and intricate tradition of hand-painting Easter eggs with the help of knifes, feathers and wax. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A girl pauses as she decorates Easter eggs at a traditional Easter Market of Germany's Sorb minority in the village Neuwiese, near the city of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2019. A tiny Slavic minority in Germany is keeping alive a long and intricate tradition of hand-painting Easter eggs with the help of knifes, feathers and wax. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)