EASTER BUNNY ORIGIN

In the Easter bunny origin legend, he is the one that brings decorated eggs and candies to the children's home the night before Easter. He would hide them somewhere in the house or garden for the kids to find them in the morning. But the bunny as a symbol of Easter is traced a long time ago, even before Christ was born:

The Egyptians are believed to be the first ones to recognize the rabbit as a symbol of fertility (for being a prolific animal) and life, later on this belief spread to Greece and Rome.

Also among the Celtics during the celebration of the Festival of Eoster (Goddess of Spring) used the rabbit as her symbol.

The Easter Bunny origin its found on Germany, first found on literature of the 1500's under the name of "Oschter Haws", a rabbit that deposit eggs, among other candies on children's shoes. Also Germany was the one that introduce the chocolate bunny on the 1800's.

The Easter Bunny was first introduce to America thanks to the Germans that arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch during the 1800's. Every year on Easter kids would wait for Oschter Haws' visit to lay eggs on their homes.

As time passed by and the amount of eggs and candies grew, and they could not fit on the shoes anymore, the kids started to build nests for the Easter Bunny eggs, and after some years, the nest were substituted by baskets.

But not in all the countries that celebrate Easter have the bunny as symbol, Australia considers bunnies and rabbits a pest and instead of a bunny, a Bilby is the one that lay the eggs on Easter for the children.

Taken from: http://www.read-legends-and-myths.com/easter-bunny-origin.html