If you are visiting Bavaria in spring during Easter time, you might notice colourfully decked out fountains and Easter decorations in towns and villages all over. Especially if you’ve rented a car, you can take advantage of the mobility and check out this Franconian Easter Fountains itinerary I personally did myself so I can better tell you about it.
This article also appeared in German.
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The Story behind Easter Fountains
There are tons of Easter fountains in Franconia. After all, the tradition originated from here in the early 20th century.
Cleaning fountains and clearing out the dirt that piled up over winter has been a long-standing tradition for centuries. But adding fresh, green twigs braided with painted Easter eggs and hung with other decorations and shaped into crowns is still pretty recent.
The tradition is common in the south and parts of the middle of Germany. In the North, it is fairly uncommon. Many of my own friends had never heard of it until I started sharing my photos of Easter fountains around South and Central Germany. I got a lot of confused questions because to me, it was not that new. (I grew up in Jena.)
The German name for Easter fountains is “Osterbrunnen” (both in singular and plural). There is no shorter version for it, which is weird cause Germans love abbreviations.
Easter fountains are typically set up a week prior to Easter and up to two weeks after Easter. To be on the safe side, visit close to Easter time.
Bamberg
If you ask me, Bamberg is THE prettiest city in Germany. So, it’s always worth a visit.
(So much so, that I started a blog entirely dedicated to travelling Bamberg).
I found four Easter fountains in Bamberg. The most prominent and impressive ones is the one at the Gabelmoo in the city centre. The Gabelmoo is the local name for the Poseidon statue at the market street Grüner Markt.
- Address: Poseidonstatue, Grüner Markt, 96047 Bamberg
Another one, you can find close to the bust stop “Gaustadt Spinnerei”, near the bridge towards the ERBA island. (Which is where you find the best cherry blossom spots in Bamberg).
- Address: Gaustadt Spinnerei, 96049 Bamberg
In the south, I spotted two small Osterbrunnen. One is right in front of the orange church Maria Hilf in the district Wunderburg, which also has pretty little and colourful houses.
The fountain shows two gardeners raking the ground and around them the green twigs are set up.
- Address: Maria Hilf Kirche, Wunderburg 6, 96050 Bamberg
In the next district over, the residential area Gereuth, you can find a tiny spiral fountain upon which a big Easter egg structure is set up. Sometimes, the local kindergarden kids will decorate notes and cutouts and hang them on it too.
- Address: Gereuthstraße 30, 96050 Bamberg
So my recommendation is to start in the south with Gereuth, then drive over to Wunderburg, then to the city centre and up to Erba. From there, it’s fastest to reach our next stops on the Easter fountains tour around Bamberg.
Hallstadt
The town of Hallstadt lies North of Bamberg and is part of the region of Bamberg (not the city itself). It has some pretty half-timbered houses and in nearby Dörfleins, you can also start on a hike and pilgrimage trail up the mountain.
Anyway, the Easter fountain is to the side of the church St. Kilian, right outside the pretty yellow building on street Fischergasse 11. It’s a relatively small fountain but decked to the Nines. And even the flower beds next to it were decked out with Easter lambs and bunnies cozily nestled between daffodils.
If you are curious to see some behind the scenes photos of how the Easter fountains are decorated by volunteers, you can see a newspaper article here. The greens are always fresh and need to be wired and wrapped around the structures and then hung with hundreds of Easter eggs. It’s a lot of work!
- Address: Marktpl. 4, 96103 Hallstadt
Scheßlitz
I am mentioning Scheßlitz because it’s a gorgeous little place with beautiful houses, lots of restaurants and local beer and access to the castle ruin Giechburg.
However, I walked around quite a lot, found some fountains but no Easter fountain decorations in 2024. I am not sure if they ever have any or if it was just that one year.
Only the church had a tiny Easter fountain egg-shaped structure in a flower pot out front.
You’ll drive through Scheßlitz on your way to the next stop of the Easterfountain tour.
Drosendorf
On the official list (in German) for Franconian Easter fountains I found two Easter fountains listed for Drosendorf. Only when I couldn’t find the second did I realise there are two places with the same name but they are not the same or close. Too bad.
The Drosendorf Easter fountain in Memmelsdorf and close to Scheßlitz is right opposite the church. There is a parking bay you can stop at to hop out and have a closer look before driving on to the next station.
- Address: Kath. Kirche Hl. Dreifaltigkeit, Trautmannstraße, 96117 Memmelsdorf
Azendorf
The best is when you have your map of Easter fountains ready but then you still spot some unexpected ones as you drive along and get to stop. The small community of Azendorf doesn’t have sights to offer and there isn’t technically an Easter fountain.
But right by the bus stop on the grass, a little Easter tree and even a waiting booth with two bunnies has been set up. In fact, the décor is so lovely that the community won prizes for their Easter decorations twice. A plaque set in stone will tell you so.
- Address: St2190 112, 95359 Kasendorf
Kasendorf
My actual goal was seeing the Herkulesbrunnen in Kasendorf at the central market square. It dates back to 1737 and is decorated by the local gardening association and the builder’s yard of Kasendorf each year.
- Address: Herkulesbrunnen, 95359 Kasendorf
Thurnau
Afterwards, I stopped in Thurnau because it was on the way back to the autobahn anyway. And because it has this gorgeous castle with the historic airwalks leading to the church (so noble people wouldn’t have to be subjected to the weather).
It’s small, quaint, there are nice cafes and, in theory, there’s an Easter fountain. However, in 2024, the fountain had been taken apart for restoration purposes. This left no impressive sight nor any decorations. Maybe it’s back again the next year.
- Address: Neptunbrunnen, 95349 Thurnau
Final Tips
And that’s it from this tour around Upper Franconian Easter fountains. Of course, I’ve seen plenty more but that’s for another blog post. In my experience, it’s nice to check them out but you can easily get a bit “fountained out” after seeing a few. They are ultimately very similar and it shouldn’t be a race anyway. Take your time.
Pro tip: Don’t plan this Easter fountain tour for a Monday because most restaurants will be closed and you might be left hungry if the towns and communities are basically dead. Good places to eat can be found in Scheßlitz and Thurnau, for example.
More travel tips for South Germany
- Easy day trips from Stuttgart
- Why you should visit the fairy tale rock gardens of Sanspareil
- Visiting the hidden Castle of Rosenau
- What to see around Coburg
- Going on a day trip to Kulmbach: Castle + beers
