Ptači kwas / Bird’s Wedding

Presented By Students at St. Paul Lutheran Serbin

The age-old Wendish custom called Ptači kwas (the Bird’s Wedding) was presented by the students of St. Paul Lutheran School at Serbin on Sunday, January 25, 2015. Ptači kwas is celebrated annually on January 25th in the Lusatia region of Germany, the homeland of the Wends who established St. Paul Lutheran and Serbin. St. Paul Lutheran – the first Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in Texas – today represents seven generations of the original St. Paul Wends who came to America in 1854.

The Bird Wedding celebration at St. Paul Lutheran, Serbin, began with children dressed in traditional Wendish wedding costumes leading a processional with a following of children acting as birds. The children in costume include the Braska (the emcee at all Wendish weddings), the bride representing the Sroka (magpie), the groom representing the Wron (raven), and their attendants the bridesmaid and groomsman. The traditional costumes were made by a costume designer in Texas through donations received by the Texas Wendish Heritage Society in an effort to share the Bird’s Wedding custom and rekindle an interest in Wendish traditions.

Seventh and eighth grade students and their teacher and interim Principal – Mrs. Kim Droegemueller – shared narratives explaining the Bird Wedding custom. All students of St. Paul Lutheran, assisted by their teachers, joined the celebration processional, sang “Gott Ist Die Liebe” and lead the singing of the “Doxology” during the recessional.

Following the Bird’s Wedding celebration, students proceeded to their classrooms where, mysteriously, the bird food was replaced with treats left for them by the birds.