An Emmausgang is a Christian tradition which is still practiced today, mainly in

southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, commemorating the walk of the disciples to

Emmaus Emmaus (; Greek: Ἐμμαούς, ''Emmaous''; la, Emmaus; , ''Emmaom''; ar, عمواس, ''ʻImwas'') is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before tw ...

, to which

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

followed them without being recognized. The Emmausgang is made on Easter Monday (also known as ''Emmaustag'' or Emmaus Day) as a spiritual walk with prayer and song or as a contemplative stroll through nature as it awakens. A related tradition in the

Weinviertel The ("wine quarter") or ("area below the ") is located in the northeast of Lower Austria. In the east, the borders Slovakia at the March River. In the south, it borders and , its limits being the Wagram, the Danube and the . Its western nei ...

area of Austria is the "Grean" (whose name comes from ''ins Grüne gehen'' 'going into the countryside/green'), a meeting in the open air or in a wine cellar with food and drink. A special form of the Emmausgang is kept alive in the Borghorst area of Steinfurt in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

by the members of the shooting club "Prinzen Schützengesellschaft von 1490" on

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

at the onset of dusk, who travel to the local church with torches and brass lanterns (Emmaus lanterns) while singing Christian songs and celebrate in a church service there.

References

{{Authority control Christianity in Austria Christianity in Germany Annual events in Austria Annual events in Germany Spring (season) events in Austria Easter traditions in Germany

Further reading

References