The Easter Bunny is a folk figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit that brings Easter eggs. It is also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare and originates from the German Lutherans. The Easter Hare originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient at the start of the season of Eastertide. The Easter Bunny is sometimes depicted wearing clothes. In legend, the creature brings coloured eggs, candy, and sometimes also toys in his basket to the homes of children, and thus shows similarities to Santa Claus or the Christkind, as they both bring gifts to children on the night before their respective holidays.
The custom was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau’s De ovis paschalibus (About Easter Eggs) in 1682, and referred to the German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter eggs for the children.
The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed that the hare was an hermaphrodite. The idea that a hare could reproduce without the loss of its virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif. Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols from ancient times. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.
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