Luxembourg Women to Offer Pretzels on Sunday This Year

In Luxembourg, a curious tradition is set to return this year on Sunday 10 March – Bretzelsonndeg or Pretzel Sunday, when pretzels are offered as a token of one’s love.

Easter and pre-Easter traditions in Europe are as diverse as the countries themselves. From egg hunts in England, decorating Easter trees in Germany, Austria or the Netherlands, and colouring eggs in central and eastern Europe to numerous religious processions in Spain or Italy. Some eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria also have traditions during March, such as wearing March charms made of red and white yarn throughout the month. These customs are sometimes connected to the religious celebration of Easter, but very often they have ancient pagan roots and relate more to rites of fertility, protection from ill-health or an expression of one’s love interest.

The tradition of Bretzelsonndeg seems to be a combination of religious and pagan celebration and it appears to stem from the Middle Ages. Catholic Christians called the fourth week of Lent “Laetare Sunday”, meaning “Sunday of joy”. On this day, breaking the fast and the temporary stop of abstaining from certain foods was permitted during the Lent period. Unlike the simple, well-known bread-like and salted German pretzel, this sweet Luxembourgish variant of the pretzel is usually quite large (more like cake) and consists of rich puff pastry, made with eggs and butter, covered in fondant icing and almond flakes. Nowadays, pretzels come in even richer varieties - they can be filled with chocolate, covered in fondant, almond flakes and chocolate sprinkles. Some pretzels (not the traditional ones) consist of doughnut dough and are covered in sugar.

According to the Luxembourgish tradition, a man would offer his female love interest a pretzel on Bretzelsonndeg, waiting for Easter for her “answer”. In leap years such as this one, the roles are reversed and the woman offers her male love interest a pretzel on Bretzelsonndeg. Three weeks later, at Easter, if the feeling is mutual, she receives an Easter egg from him in return. However, if he gives her an empty basket, this means he rejects her (as per the Luxembourgish expression “de Kuerf kréien” which means “to get the basket, to be rejected”).

Observing this tradition, the Section des Patrons Boulangers-Pâtissiers (bakery and confectionery employers’ section) of the Confédération Liewensmëttelhandwierk (foodcrafts confederation) presented a pretzel to the College of the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Luxembourg a few days early, on Tuesday 5 March 2024. This highlighted the ancient tradition and the profession of bakers and confectioners, vocations that hold special importance in Luxembourg nationals’ lives.