Holligan stat literally the city of saints. And the people here do indeed celebrate a long tradition of christianity some of the rituals practiced here go back hundreds of years. On palm sunday the sunday before easter catholics from the central german town gather in precession to bear witness to the sufferings of christ. Then 50 men carry these larger than life wooden figures through the town. In the form of bearer in our family from you but my great grandfather was the 1st then my grandfather and my father my father. Does a highlight for us a highlight for the whole town. That. Sense 1581. 00 catholics have been staging this holy week procession and highly can start it resembles a passion play each palm sunday they carry huge figures around the town center portraying the sufferings of christ. Jesuits introduced the tradition as part of their strategy to subvert the attraction of the protestant reformation in the region. The consulate was almost the procession is really remarkable because it has survived told a vicissitudes of history it was done in like you meant secularization and superiors that the pope described as godless dictatorships. Its a very strong christian. Unwitnessed from a small region at the heart of germany in bushland. Today the passion procession of highly constat is one of the largest in the country. This will represent the mount of olives where jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion here in Central Europe olive trees are a rare commodity. So the builders make do with the branches of few trees. We traditionally use your trees because theres lots of them growing around here they are also very decorative theyre nice and green with. The more than. The huge tree branches that represent all of branches from the Holy Mountain are a popular keepsake. Do you were used to Everyone Wants to take one home and its an old tradition to which the palm sunday branch is behind the crucifix in your sitting room they stay there all year this sometimes leads to a regular free for all with people fighting over the last branches so we make sure to put lots of them on our display day when we dismantle everything theyll be none left. The figures are stored in the attic of the old Jesuit College the p. A ta depicting the virgin mary holding the body of her dead son was replaced 120 years ago. Some of the other figures date back to the 16th century they are carefully preserved and have been spared the ravages of time. The moment the prom the 1st time i took part in the early 1980 s. They had predicted rain that had rained so hard when we carrying the figures we cant really take a step to the side so we just marched straight through all the puddles up on the music got so wet you could hear our shoes squelching what a mess thats. Been there is retiring this year his sunday shot is said to take over his role in the procession thats the tradition here but 1st he needs a top hat off to do the mop. Over you happen to have a spare top hat for our son ben. Also for me you know i had to look through what weve got now found 3 because. All platform bearers wear their sunday best black suits and top hats those. This is a top hat my grandfather used to wear over par with seen a few downpours because im a dork its too big for me it keeps slipping around on my head. Its too big line it with newspaper. And that doesnt fit richard we have to find another one. Not on. The thought of believe it belonged to my wifes grandfather. You know its too small for me but i think it should fit richard theyre going to think it will help us will issue or in this case hat fit. This is where the procession is set to start on sunday bowden knows the way he will be in the front row carrying the 1st figure your good invest will head up that way towards the 1st intersection. And then turn right towards vellum stars that are through. The same route the procession has followed for centuries one and a half kilometers through the streets of head against at. And here i think this is bill himself will be coming from up here in procession and head this way across getting us taza want to live in l. A. And then back to our starting point where the Closing Service takes place. Another palm sunday tradition and highly constat at the little boxes that held a shot of paints. This is so often that its every old custom here in atlanta and we always give each other a little boxes after the palm sunday for session will be a pity if that custom disappeared from. The boxes our beloved souvenirs from highly constat next to the one she painted herself to also keeps many historical examples in her museum dish them for though and these were painted between 1008 in 1910 were very simple. This autumn was covered with thinned paint and you know these symbolize palm fronds and each box was decorated with a bouquet of flowers and a little saying. 40 years ago she brought this half forgotten tradition back to life. Do you mean. Young men would present responses to this week. When the girls approval that way and parents would give them to their children in that case there will always sweet sayings on the box like god bless you. Its so lovely here theyre sharing. The museum has visitors year round the motif of the easter lamb as a best seller held a shot of 1st painted a box like this for the late Cardinal Meisner archbishop of cologne. Caught a cardinal gave it to somebody else what it. Meant i was sure that 1st i thought he didnt like it that i never realized you wouldnt make a president of something you didnt like yourself. And then he told me hed given it to his best friend because i dont ratzinger. You dont say. Yes and then continental minds now received a new one requirement since then ive often painted the pascal lamb the limit theres no record of whether Cardinal Ratzinger took the box with him when he moved into the palace of the vatican as Pope Benedict the 16th either way hell the shot is quite pleased. Cousteaus still remains it is the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd looks after history of people dimension and the land is both the sacrificial lamb earns the victorious lamb. In recent years a novelty has crept in among the boxes. How did the luther rose find its way to this very catholic town its right holes in cindy if english and consume thousands use a lutheran christians were formally invited to a palm sunday procession before that they generally ever been spectators. Since then they join in so i thought that much to be a special thanks for the lutheran stickers and thats why i designed this box and this week i pushed the little we wish that it. Meanwhile at the spill ners home weve gathered a few top hats lets see which of them fits you. 20 year old bill now wants to follow in his fathers footsteps and assume the familys office as one of the ceremonial platform bearers suck. So its time to find out if one of the hats they borrowed actually fits. This ones a bit too small isnt it. But for some 32 years carried the last figure in the perception the holy step of formal dress has always been obligatory. Finally the 4th that they try fits but its his fathers will have to share it. Just as theyll share the route father paul plans to take over for his son on the 2nd leg of the procession. But he did not because i think youll manage until girls are going to start a. Downhill hams trouser and ill carry it the rest of the way youll see youll be flagging by a bad. Country can you get in for the moment the youngster seems confident enough to put to you from someone some standing next to the holy settle or leaving the house to join the procession i think it will feel a little special moment i imagine what it must be like to walk through town while people point instead of course darkly whisper to each other in reverence joke one of the barest of the is in the air force the course right now you can tell when youre being stared at. It dressed in his finest sun or a shard is ready to carry on the family legacy. Of me feel proud is a fine thing and i think its wonderful that youre doing all this with us marcus. His father is brimming with pride as we look at how youve grown up. The whole precession is organized by families and highly can start like the spinners but theres one exception to the rule since 1943. Men from the neighboring village of best house and have been responsible for the 4 metre high cross. Best 1000 lies just 5 kilometers east of haile can start. For decades yohannes trialing and after him his son angle that have been crossed bearers. Of the mansion helped carry the cross and mr finn imitate to those who sells for us its an honor to be part of the procession. The involvement of best house and was a result of the 2nd world war. Many residents of highly can start were at the front and there werent enough strong men left to carry the figures. So the dean wrote a letter to the parish priest at best house and asking for support the men from best house and volunteered to carry the cross. Years later when the men of highly can start wanted to take it back the volunteers were reluctant to hand it over. To. The new one of those and. We had a meeting and discussed the situation and we decided were not going to relinquish the honor weve received. The letter if we were good enough during the war we were good enough afterwards. To do. My father often told us that the men of best house and what dead against it and im glad they were. 12 men are not families we all agreed we should carry on bearing the cross instead of giving it back. To. Their determination paid off. That trialing took over the cross from his father in 1906 my father said hed been carrying the cross for 40 years he asked if i wanted to take it over of course i did you know. I stayed close. That i was carrying it the right way its not easy if you have to fall in line with the other bearers and take direction from the men whove been doing it for years. Its tricky when youre standing at the back trying to balance it out or. Growth across lanes to one side the people on that side have to push against it and you push against them this is and sometimes its not the weight of the cross thats the hard part of the guy next year pushing on the wrong direction or wardrobe we never dropped it into. The perception was introduced by jesuits who were sent to the area over 4 centuries ago by the archbishop of mines ruler of the territory. These jesuits got creative as they went about spearheading the counterreformation. Media i will be your desire they took what we would call a multimedia approach they were the best instruments at the disposal of the Catholic Church and the passion for session was part of their program they turned it into a mass back tickle talking to mom. It was to be a spectacle on good friday the day christ was crucified. But the locals objected to the proposed to date. That was a good friday is a holy day of obligation for catholics we eat one meal all day and were not allowed mate so they couldnt sell sausages and the fasting rules forbade many other things of the day isnt suitable for a big public spectacle because it commemorates the sufferings of christ so the procession happens on palm sunday instead of the times on doubtfully since the date was changed to palm sunday and 734 the procession has been enormously popular and to keep it that way the local people were prepared to defend their profession by all means at their disposal. The nazis forbade School Children to accompany the holy sepulcher but 8 young boys defied the order. And he. Described this as the greatest disappointment of his life caused by the very people who were supposed to play a key role in constructing the 1000 year reich of. People to defy nazi ideology the boys were sent to a hitler youth prison camp in baghdad where they suffered physical violence and were interrogated. For heat a way you could view this as a form of resistance in the 3rd reich as the utah position. And attempts to suppress the parade didnt stop there after the end of the war this was soviet occupied territory former provost paul you. Tells an anecdote about his predecessor in 1946 when he feared the procession would be banned he turned to the soviet commander. In. The commander of been a theater director in russia. And so of course he was interested in drama. When the provost knew this when he played on the man sympathy describing the procession as a holy play. He said it was no demonstration it was a melodrama. Many participants he was asked 6000. Commander was very impressed by how many acts yes its not accurate saenz was the answer. For. The day after the procession the man was summoned by the soviet commander. Who with his knowledge of the world the last thing the provost wanted before he left was a hearty breakfast and knew these appointments could take time. And he wasnt sure whether he was going to be praised or reprimanded. He was praised. And the incident became part of highly constat history. Afterwards the east german communists never dared to ban the procession. But they did punish those who collaborated. Especially the bearers. Of the mosque he between many other people who held important positions had to decide for themselves whether it was worth taking part in the procession or not especially in the final years when east germany was particularly weak and pressure in the factories and collectives increased it with lead christians couldnt even get a masters certificate anymore. In those communist years taking part in the procession was a bold declaration of ones face. To part for the 1st time in the mid 1980 s. Despite the political repercussions he would face. Demonstrated that i was committed to my faith that i hadnt bought into socialism. The. Procession let me show that quite openly. But that meant that i wouldnt be allowed to study. Or i wanted to become a forest ranger but all of a sudden i was caught off thats what i was pushed out of the system or and. Horse. In spite of the discrimination they suffered this small region remained a bastion of faith. 80 percent of the population is catholic. Doesnt work out whether in the 3rd reich or later on the communism was a superstition always was an expression of resistance just and in fact this was their way of telling the regime that it hadnt succeeded in getting the whole region to accept the new ideology they didnt need anybody elses worldview they had their own given the choice between marx and god they chose god for god. Highly constat on the sunday before easter the day of the passion procession its 12 noon how the shutter is arranging the palm sunday boxes on her table. Springs into his palm sunday is an important day for this region and even people from far away know about it many will come through the weather is perfect the sun is shining so that means even more than joining the given the whole is not nearly so often very. 1230 ish had still not dresses for the procession today he will assume an honorary office in every sense of the word to march in the procession as one of the bearers of the holy sepak or as a high accolade and highly constat. Will inherit the office from his father as custom dictates. Today he will become part of a 400 year old tradition. Its an emotional occasion. Or didnt demand and formal dress will be the heroes of the day richard do you want to begin fung affairs out carrie from the start its ok i so heres how i share the load richard of all carry the wholly separate down villains. Then ill take over and go to guns taza and little gnarly others no. 1 oclock thousands of pilgrims and tourists crowd into the town. By that thats all running according to plan and no change is the same as a. Every year. The bears from best 1000 take up their positions at the cross its not the heaviest load but its the hardest to carry. The holy settle curtis decorated with flowers the spill ners father and son are starting to feel the tension. Of this job which i hope i didnt step on your feet but if you do after the 3rd time you have to polish my shoes afterwards. How this shot has painted boxes are attracting potential customers. A colorful memento of a very special occasion for the good of all of you are. On the stroke of 2 the procession starts with him and prayers the faithful march through highly constat. Only after the 1st figures have covered a 3rd of the route is it time for a shower to start. The holy step occur is the final scene. And weighing 320. 00 kilos its the heaviest. I was one of the men that saves all kinds and they stayed on main street removing all the guns i dont know coercing the old him as the time to actually son in church anymore. And if you look at the people who will see that all varying from hassles and this everybody is moving toward. When i say that perceptions datsun us muslims its not to fight back the tears with sophisticated from. The best 1000 men are proud to be carrying the cross. And albert drying has taken his fathers place. Even pivotal its uplifting when you see that youre part of this whole community. 8000 people have joined the procession today. Another 4000 lined the streets. For the unretouched build their shoulders on the shoulders of 11 other men. The holy supple car a heavy burden. His father is waiting to take over but young restart isnt ready to quit yet. 8 tenths of a kilometer no hes not handing over this is just a short pause. And. 1. 2 kilometers hasnt he had enough. Everybody wants to finish now there wont be any handover we want god with all my vote i knew he wouldnt give up i knew it all along he told me he wanted to see israels. Fault. The passion procession is punishing for the bearers but its a burden they carry with pride across 1500 meters home at some point i didnt want to hand over i told myself i had to finish i think hes even happier about it than i am. Well richard. It hurts like sell out such as this really i would you know take over you wouldnt exact this list of names when i wanted to finish 1st so you did this now you are worthy of the office. Richard wants to take over permanently its not handed over to me. All you got on the. Up. To. The palm sunday procession is more than a spectacle for a custom. For the people of highly constat its a declaration of their faith. It was a stone wall view about a procession is always the same thats the spirit of tradition it expresses a certain continuity and then you see that christianity is still alive here there is still catholics here if the church is a not empty there are people who want to demonstrate their faith that is by the airport we are or by the fact that weve been chosen. To carry the figures through the time. When im presenting them to the people. We should all they believe the procession will survive another 400 years im certain of it just doesnt cut short so. What. Place. Is quite as simple as it sinks. To understand the world better we need to take a closer more. Experience knowledge tomorrow to. Talk to the flames. On the road with our observe her. My mission is clear. Get them to me coast leash explore germany. Does it have everything out theres a lot going on in. Germany tried and tested trick. 60 minutes on. What secrets lie behind the walls. Discover new adventures in 360 degree. And explore fascinating World Heritage sites. W World Heritage 360 get the maps now. Ringback tell if it is for me. Is for. Me to open is for. Me to use for her. And beethoven is for. Beethoven is for everyone. Beethoven 2022 the 50th anniversary here on d w. This is deja news live from berlin british Prime Minister virus johnson is admitted to hospital with persistent coronavirus symptoms downing street says hell spend the night there for testing the Prime Minister 1st fell ill with covert 19 at the end of march well get a live update from london. Also on the show Britains Queen elizabeth tells her country to stay strong in the fight against the pandemic do you take comfort that while we may have more still to indio better days are ahead