Public holidays, school holidays

One thing that catches out both newcomers and longer term residents in Austria is public holidays. There are quite a few of them but some fall on Sundays when shops are closed anyway.

As a rule, on a public holiday you can expect to find all shops and supermarkets closed except those that would normally be open on Sundays. Petrol station shops are your saviour!

National public holidays

• 1. January: Neujahr/New Year's Day

• 6. January: Heilige Drei Könige/Holy Three Kings

• Ostermontag/Easter Monday

• 1. May: Staatsfeiertag/National holiday, Labour Day

• 39 days after Easter Sunday: Christi Himmelfahrt/Ascension Day

• 49 days after Easter Monday: Pfingstmontag/Whit Monday (Pentecost Monday)

• 60 days after Easter Sunday: Fronleichnam/Corpus Christi

• 15. August: Assumption of the Virgin Mary

• 26. October: National Day)

• 1. November: Allerheiligen/All Saints' Day

• 8. December: Mariä Empfängnis/Mary's Conception

• 25. December: Weihnachten/Christmas Day

• 26. December: Stephanstag/Boxing Day

Provincial public holidays

In addition to the national public holidays, each province has one to celebrate their Saint's day. These are:

• Burgenland: 11. November (St. Martin)

• Carinthia: 19. März (St. Josef)

• Lower Austria: 15. November (St. Leopold)

• Salzburg: 24. September (St. Rupert)

• Styria: 19. März (St. Josef)

• Tirol: 19. März (St. Josef)

• Upper Austria: 4. Mai (St. Florian)

• Vienna: 15. November (St. Leopold)

• Vorarlberg: 19. März (St. Josef)

Note: These lists are meant as a guide only and may not be all-inclusive. Some of these dates may not be observed in all provinces/every year.

Sources and further reading

Here are some resources that maintain up-to-date lists of dates:

• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Austria A standard, generic list which is not adjusted for a specific year

• School holidays by province: https://www.schulferien.org/oesterreich/ferien/

• wein.gv.at: https://www.wien.gv.at/amtshelfer/feiertage/ An official list of the national holidays but note that each province has a holiday on its Saint's day (see the Wikipedia link above). Near the bottom of the page there are files to add to your digital calendar

• Website of the Ministry for Education, Science and Research: https://www.bmbwf.gv.at/Themen/schule/schulpraxis/termine/feiertage.html

• https://www.feiertage-oesterreich.at/ This seems to be a complete list with a table for each year and province

• Austria's official tourism site (provincial holidays not included): https://www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/about-austria/holidays-daylight-savings-time