Ewigkeitssonntag - Eternity Sunday
14.02.2017
The last Sunday of the church year, five weeks before Christmas, is celebrated as memorial day for the defunct in the Protestant churches. The older name was Totensonntag (Sunday of the Dead). It is respected as a statewide holiday. Christmas markets usually open during the week after Eternity Sunday; those few that start earlier have to stay closed on that day. Dancing and similar are not allowed.
In Sunday service the names of all those members of the community who died during the previous year are read aloud and a candle is lit for each of them. Afterwards a commemoration is held in the cemetery.
Eternity Sunday is the end of the church year, thus also the end of this blog. We have completed the cycle of one year. On the following weekend it starts all over again with the First Advent Sunday. So please start reading again from the beginning ;-)
Posted by Kathrin_E 01:24 Archived in Germany Tagged churches germany holidays traditions customs Comments (0)
