Mountains are much more than simply millions of years old rock. On 16 March, the long-awaited exhibition “The Mountain is Calling” will open at the Gasometer in Oberhausen. Visitors can experience the enormous fascination and the diversity of the mountains and their environment until the end of the year – in the Ruhr.

The Wasserburg Geretzhoven at Bergheim is hosting a Medieval Festival on the weekend of 7 and 8 April. Knights, jugglers and medieval guilds will parade within the historic walls. There will be a stage in the inner courtyard on which Fakir Alyn will display his acrobatics. Oriental groups will dance, and there will be live music from the group Pech and Schwefel among others.

One Easter tradition in the western Eifel dates back to the 16thcentury. In the Schönecken Egg Race, two bachelors compete against each other on Easter Monday. While running, one participant must collect 104 raw eggs, which are placed at a distance of one cubit from another on the ground. In the meantime, his competitor runs four kilometres into the neighbouring village and back. The person who finishes his task first is declared the winner. The Egg Race also attracts numerous visitors to pretty Schönecken.

The struggle for equal rights for all and transformation and change in Europe is the theme of the 24th European Culture Days. Karlsruhe and international artists deal with the subject through exhibitions, films, concerts, literature, public art, opera and musicals, plays, lectures and discussions. What better location than Karlsruhe, home of the Federal Constitutional Court?

The “largest Easter nest on the Moselle” will be in the wine village of Kobern-Gondorf during Holy Week. It measures 5 metres in diameter and will be filled to the brim with hundreds of colourful Easter eggs. Good to know: each egg has a ticket number and will also bring luck in one form or another. The traditional Easter market takes place in the historic marketplace on Easter Sunday.

Wild goings-on in Lügde in the Teutoburg Forest: at dusk on Easter Sunday, head-high burning wheels are set off. Following a Germanic tradition, burning wheels filled with straw weighing nearly 300 kilos are rolled downhill. Each wheel is greeted at the foot of the Osterberg with loud cheering, a fanfare from the wind orchestra and pealing bells. If the wheels reach the valley safely, there will be a good harvest that year. The preparations are also worth seeing: in early afternoon, heavy horses pull the Easter wheels up the Osterberg in an old cart.

The Black Forest Music Festival has been bringing the entire region to life for 20 years. For the anniversary edition, 17 concerts are planned in 16 venues. There will be a highlight in Baiersbronn. The Munich musician Konstantin Wecker is a prominent guest and wants to present his new programme “Poetry and Resistance” on 21 May in the Schwarzwaldhalle. He will be accompanied by his band and the Bavarian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

(Original text: ga.de. Translation: kc)