Birds' Wedding

proper noun

A custom among the Sorbs (Wends) of Lusatia in Germany, whereby on the evening of January 24th, children place empty plates outside, and on the morning of January 25th, they find pastries, meringues and candy in the form of birds, which are said to have been left for them by birds celebrating their wedding.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A custom among the Sorbs (Wends) of Lusatia in Germany, whereby on the evening of January 24th, children place empty plates outside, and on the morning of January 25th, they find pastries, meringues and candy in the form of birds, which are said to have been left for them by birds celebrating their wedding.

    The Sorbs were protected under the GDR and since reunification interest in the culture has been revived through the media and colourful Sorbian festivals such as the Vogelhochzeit (Birds’ Wedding) on 25 January and a symbolic ‘witch-burning’ on 30 April.

    2010, Andrea Schulte-Peevers et al., Germany, Lonely Planet Travel Guide, →ISBN, page 167
    2 more examples

    On 25 January in Upper Lusatia the custom of Ptači kwas (Birds’ Wedding) is observed. … Following the First World War the Birds’ Wedding began to assume a new form, and eventually developed into a popular festival which was given a new impulse after 1945.

    1972, Gerald Stone, The smallest Slavonic nation: the Sorbs of Lusatia. Athlene Press. pp. 130–31

    The Birds’ Wedding was a custom especially for Wendish children that went as follows: “On January 25th the children would place empty plates and saucers outside, usually on fence posts and other high places to prevent raids by dogs and cats. The next morning the children would wake up to find the dishes filled with candy and nuts supposedly left for them by the birds. [The birds] were said to be celebrating their wedding and wanted to share their gifts with neighboring humans.”

    2004, Allan O. Kownslar, The European Texans, . Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 120

Translations

German Vogelhochzeit
  • VogelhochzeitSorbian custom
Russian птичья сва́дьба
  • птичья сва́дьба (ptičʹja svádʹba)Sorbian custom
Cite this entry
APA

Birds' Wedding. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Birds'%20Wedding

MLA

“Birds' Wedding.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Birds'%20Wedding. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Birds' Wedding,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Birds'%20Wedding.

Source: Birds' Wedding on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.