Easter is one of the most important Christian holidays. As in the countries of America and Europe, the celebration of Easter in Switzerland it is characterized by an increasing commercialization of the religious aspects of the festival.
In the days leading up to Easter, chocolate bunnies, colored eggs and special Easter cakes (Osterfladen) appear in shop windows and Easter Sunday often begins with an Easter egg hunt. However, Easter is celebrated with a regional flavor in different parts of the country.
On the last Thursday of Lent, a show of the Passion of Christ with Roman soldiers and trumpeters on horseback is staged in Mendrisio in the south of the Italian-speaking Ticino region. On Good Friday, there is a procession during which two sculptures, one of the dead Christ and the other of the Virgin Mary, are carried on a tour through the streets.
On Easter Monday, known as "Zwanzgerle", there is a game where children challenge adults to break their eggs decorated with a twenty cent coin. If the adult does not, the child keeps the coin, but if the adult succeeds, they turn the coin and the egg on their back as well. Although this game results in a windfall for children, sometimes adults manage to return the coins as well.
In Romont in western Switzerland, it is traditional for weeping women to carry scarlet cushions through the streets that are the symbols of Christ's passion - such as the nails used at the crucifixion and the crown of thorns that was placed on the head - as well as the handkerchief to wipe the forehead of Christ that, according to the Bible, was miraculously imprinted with the image of his face.