Austrian Christmas (Christmas Day & St Stephen's Day)
Photo: Eweht · CC BY-SA 4.0
About
December 25 and 26 are national public holidays in Austria. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve (Dec 24, a normal but early-closing day), with the two following days reserved for quiet family celebrations.
Highlights
- Gifts brought by the Christkind on the evening of Dec 24
- Two consecutive non-working days, Dec 25–26
- Salzburg's Silent Night heritage (Oberndorf, just north of the city)
Practical tips
- Almost everything closes from midday Dec 24 through Dec 26 — stock up beforehand
- The Dom- and Residenzplatz Christmas market publishes reduced hours on Dec 25–26
- Reserve any Christmas-Day restaurant well in advance
Other upcoming events
Assumption Day (Mariä Himmelfahrt) in Austria
August 15 is a national public holiday across Austria honouring the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, with herb-bundle blessings (Kräuterweihe) in churches and a quiet midsummer day off.
Austrian National Day (Nationalfeiertag)
October 26 is Austria's National Day and a national public holiday, commemorating the constitutional law on permanent neutrality adopted on that date in 1955.
All Saints' Day in Austria
November 1 is a national public holiday in Austria. Families visit and decorate graves with candles and chrysanthemums on All Saints' (and All Souls', Nov 2), filling cemeteries with light.