11 German Words for Holy Week and Easter (Karwoche und Ostern)

Christian Holidays are often public holidays in Germany, so these are good words to know whether you're non-religious, atheist, agnostic, or religious.

The schedule carries over into school and school breaks, too. One of my clients is currently on Osterferien, Easter Holidays, and doesn't have school this week or next.

This week is Karwoche, or Holy Week, and in a non-pandemic year there would be much singing of the Bach Passions: the Matthäus-Passion (St. Matthew Passion), the Johannes-Passion (St. John Passion), and more.

Did you know the Matthäus-Passion is affectionately known amongst German musicians as "Ma-Pa"?

And can you guess what the affectionate nickname for the Johannes-Passion is?

Jo-Pa.

Ja, genau.

We may not be headed off to a Ma-Pa or a Jo-Pa this week, however we can enjoy recordings of them.

And you get to learn 11 vocabulary words based on this week and this weekend.

Here are two 4x6 vocabulary cards you can download with 11 words on them for Karwoche - Holy Week and Ostern - Easter.

Viel Spaß beim Lernen!

Download German Vocabulary for Holy Week and Easter

P.S. Here's an explanation for Gründonnerstag:

Because that's the day that the Last Supper was held, it's a long-standing tradition to eat green vegetables, for example spinach or green cabbage on that day. Thus the name "Green Thursday" or Gründonnerstag.