Fronleichnam - Corpus Christi

Flower carpets in Weingarten

Fronleichnam is a high catholic holiday, celebrated 10 days after Pentecost on the Thursday after Trinity. It honours the Eucharist. Celebrations begin with a festive mass in church, followed by a procession with the blessed sacrament which stops at certain stations where altars have been put up. Customs often involve decorations of churches and streets with flowers and green.

Some places have their special traditions. In the village of Weingarten in Baden, for example, flower carpets are made in the streets along the way of the procession (see photos). This tradition in not indigenous but has been brought there by refugees from the East after World War II. A local artist designs the pictures every year which are then made from petals and leaves.

Corpus Christi is a public holiday in the Federal States of Bayern, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland and in the catholic parts of Thüringen and Sachsen.

Corpus Christi procession in Stuttgart