Sorbian Easter Egg Market Schleife

Sorbian Easter Egg Market Schleife — Lusatian Folk Art to Touch

Schleife (Sorbian Slepo) is a village in the north of the Görlitz district, in the heart of the Sorbian settlement area of Lusatia and home to one of the most important centres for Sorbian culture. The Sorbian Cultural Centre Schleife is a museum, meeting place, and educational institution all in one; once a year — on the weekend before Easter — it hosts the Sorbian Easter Egg Market, one of the most significant meeting points for the Sorbian Easter egg tradition in Saxony.

During the market, 34 Easter egg painters from all over Lusatia sit at their workbenches in the cultural centre, demonstrating their techniques, talking to visitors, and offering their works for sale. The range is remarkable: all four traditional Lusatian techniques are represented — wax batik (patterns painted with hot wax, then dyed), wax embossing (applied wax as a plastic pattern), scratching (patterns are scratched out of the dyed egg), and the increasingly rare etching technique.

Special Exhibition 2026 and "Egg Painting Workshop"

In 2026, the market will also feature the special exhibition "From Chicken Egg to Ostrich Egg" with 450 finely decorated eggs by Hubert Bartsch from Rietschen — ranging from the filigree two-colour scratching technique and wax batik to engravings. In the "egg painting workshop", visitors can try their hand at the wax batik technique themselves, under the guidance of the artists. Three weeks before the market, the Schleife Poultry Breeding Association starts incubators, so that chicks hatch during the market — a detail that gives the market its character as a lively family festival.

Sorbian Schleife Region

Schleife is located in the Schleife parish, one of the seven Sorbian costume regions, and is known for its very own traditions in costume and music. Visitors to the market should also take a look at the Sorbian Timber-Frame House on the premises and perhaps plan a short trip to the Schleife Heath Ponds or the Erlichthof ensemble in Rietschen. The Görlitz district and the Lower Lusatian Heathland Nature Park form the scenic backdrop.