Osterfeuer der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Schmilau

Spring Bonfire with Tradition

The Easter bonfire in Schmilau is one of the most beautiful North German spring traditions. Every year on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, the Schmilau Volunteer Fire Brigade builds a wooden pyre several metres high on the football pitch on Salemer Straße (on the outskirts towards Salem/Sterley) and lights it in the evening.

It's starting again — Schmilau makes fire!

This is how the firefighters title their invitation year after year. As darkness falls, around 7 p.m., the flames blaze into the sky. The Easter bonfire is a pre-Christian spring tradition in Protestant North Germany, marking the «burning away» of winter and the welcoming of spring.

More than just fire: a cosy village evening

Around the bonfire, the fire brigade sets up a small festival infrastructure:

• Barbecue stand with sausages and steaks
• Waffle stand for those with a sweet tooth
• Beer stand with draught beer
• Seating around the bonfire

Families from Schmilau and the neighbouring villages of Salem and Sterley come together — children run around, adults chat, the fire warms from one side, the April wind cools from the other.

Schmilau — Village in the Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park

Schmilau belongs to the Lauenburgische Seen office in the Duchy of Lauenburg, one of Schleswig-Holstein's most lake-rich regions. The Volunteer Fire Brigade here is not just a rescue organisation but also the centre of the community — they organise the Easter bonfire on a voluntary basis and use the proceeds to finance parts of their association's work. So, by attending, you are concretely supporting fire safety in the village.