Austria's Easter Celebrations: Unique Traditions And Culture

Easter is a significant holiday in Austria, celebrated with various traditions and festivities. As a predominantly Catholic country, Easter in Austria is a religious occasion marked by cultural highlights such as Passion Plays, Palm Sunday processions, and Easter markets. The run-up to Easter is a vibrant affair, with colourful decorations, traditional foods, and musical performances. Let's delve into the fascinating ways Austrians commemorate this special time of year.

Easter eggs and arts and crafts

In Austria, Easter eggs are a big part of the celebration. There are two types: decorative and chocolate. The decorative ones are real eggs that have been carefully hollowed out and then painted and decorated. They are often hung in windows, on plants, and on bunches of willow twigs.

Easter Egg Flower Art

Include items from nature into your crafts. Go on a hunt for wildflowers, pick some from your backyard, or grab an inexpensive bouquet from a shop.

Easter Egg Doily Craft

Make beautiful doily Easter eggs to display. Use a variety of colours and patterns to make each one unique.

Paper Easter Egg Craft

This is a simple craft that can be done with a group of kids. Using a template and bright, colourful paper, kids can cut out and create gorgeous eggs to display.

Easter Egg Button Wall Art

All you need for this craft are buttons in a few different colours, a pencil to draw an egg shape, and some glue. You can even frame it if you'd like!

Paper Quilling Easter Egg

This craft is a great project for beginners to learn how to make several shapes, like loose coils and teardrops. Use colourful paper to create a quilled egg.

Crystal Easter Egg

Growing crystals is fascinating for kids. Learn how to make a crystal Easter egg and then apply the same technique to make crystals for other holidays.

Woven Paint Chip Easter Egg Banner

Kids can practice their weaving and fine motor skills by making beautiful woven Easter eggs to turn into a decorative banner. Use paint chips or cardstock/construction paper in various colours.

Transparent Easter Egg Suncatchers

Use transparency or laminator sheets to make Easter egg suncatchers to display in your windows. Trace an egg template, then colour it in with bright and colourful markers.

Easter Egg Scratch Art

First, colour something using bright colours, then coat the colours with black paint. Once the paint is dry, scratch designs into the black outer layer to reveal the colours underneath.

Yarn Egg

Make lovely yarn-wrapped eggs by wrapping yarn around recycled cardboard—an old cereal box works well. Hang this two-sided craft in the window for everyone to enjoy.

Neon Puffy Paint Easter Eggs

Create beautiful eggs with just one craft supply—puffy paint! Paint stripes, dots, flowers, and more.

Shaving Cream Painted Easter Eggs

Celebrate spring with these colourful and unique painted Easter eggs. You'll need paint and shaving cream.

Easter markets

Austria is a predominantly Catholic country, and Easter is a religious occasion celebrated with fervour. The Easter markets across the country showcase Austrian traditions, with a variety of handmade crafts, delicious food, and entertainment. Here is a guide to some of the best Easter markets in Austria:

Vienna

The Austrian capital offers a plethora of Easter markets, with the three largest and most popular being Schönbrunn, Am Hof, and Freyung. The Schönbrunn market is held in front of the majestic Schönbrunn Palace, where you can browse high-quality wares and regional specialties. Am Hof, located near the city centre, boasts a dedicated section for artists and artisans, ensuring a diverse range of unique products. Meanwhile, the Freyung market combines regional food and drink with an organic farmer's market.

Other notable markets in Vienna include the Altwiener Ostermarkt, held outside the Schottenstift monastery, which is renowned for its thousands of decorative eggs. The Palais Niederösterreich market offers a unique indoor experience, providing a glimpse into the beautiful Renaissance and Baroque rooms of the palace. The Easter market at the municipal botanic gardens and the Kalvarienbergfest, a historical Lent market in the 17th district, are also worth visiting.

Innsbruck

Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, hosts its Easter market in front of the iconic Golden Roof in the heart of the historic old town. This market showcases traditional Tyrolean culture, with locals donning their traditional dress and performing Easter dances. You can also indulge in "Frühschoppen," which involves enjoying a beer before lunch.

Hall in Tirol

The Haller Ostermarkt, or Hall in Tirol Easter market, is a must-visit despite being held only over two days. This market features over 25 stalls selling handmade Easter decorations in the picturesque medieval old town. The adjacent Baroque hall displays unique Easter egg art by artists in an exhibition called "Kunst am Ei".

Salzburg

Salzburg is renowned for its Osterfestspiele (Easter Festival), a 10-day celebration featuring high-quality opera, orchestral and choral concerts, and chamber music. However, they also host a traditional Easter market at the Open Air Museum in Grossgmain, just outside the city. Here, you can try egg decorating, create pussy willow bouquets, and fill your Easter basket with fresh produce and homemade treats from local farms. There is also an Easter egg hunt for children on Easter Sunday.

Easter traditions in Vienna

Vienna, like the rest of Austria, celebrates Easter with plenty of traditions. The holiday is celebrated in style for several days with parades, markets, plays and traditional delicacies.

Easter Markets

Vienna's Easter markets are a big draw, with the biggest being held at Freyung, Am Hof and Schönbrunn Palace. The markets usually start around two and a half weeks before Easter and continue until Easter Monday. The Ostermarkt Schloss Schönbrunn market has a particularly impressive setting, held in the huge courtyard in front of the palace.

Food and Drink

Food and drink are a big part of Easter celebrations in Vienna. Traditional foods include ham, cheese, bread, sweet treats such as Easter lamb cake, and of course, eggs. The Osterjause (Easter snack) is a classic, featuring ham, eggs and horseradish. The Freyung market is a good place to sample regional food and drink, thanks to the organic farmers' market usually held on the other side of the narrow road.

Decorations

Eggs are not just for eating at Easter in Vienna, they are also a key part of the seasonal arts and crafts. People buy thin tree branches, often willow, to create an Osterbaum (Easter tree), from which they hang ribbons and decorated eggs. The Altwiener Ostermarkt market on Freyung Square normally has a central area full of basket upon basket of decorated eggs.

Easter Traditions

On Easter Sunday, children spend time searching for hard-boiled eggs in the garden or apartment, known as Eiersuchen (egg search). There is also the tradition of Eierpecken (egg pecking), where two opponents each hold an egg and knock their ends together, with the aim of cracking the opponent's egg without damaging their own.

Easter celebrations in Tirol

Easter is a big deal in Austria, and Tirol is no exception. The region has a host of weird and wonderful Easter traditions, from fasting to fires, egg hunts to egg bashing, and spring walks to religious processions.

Fasting

During the 40-day fast of Lent, many people in Tirol abstain from meat, sugar, and alcohol. The period begins with a 'fasting soup', often served by local clubs in community centres. On Maundy Thursday, known in German as Green Thursday, locals eat greens: salad, fresh vegetables, herbs, and other spring fare.

Easter Celebrations

On Palm Sunday, the start of the main Easter celebrations, the last person in the family to get out of bed is teased as the 'Palm Donkey'. During the Easter processions, girls carry 'Palmbuschen' (bouquets of willow twigs and foliage, decorated with ribbons and apples) and boys carry 'Palmlatten'. These are later blessed at church and placed in fields or outside homes to protect crops, families, and homes.

Easter Saturday

On the Saturday before Easter Sunday, many places in Tirol light fires to symbolise the resurrection of Christ. This tradition may date back to pagan times. On the same day, church bells are replaced by the sound of children with wooden rattles. This custom has been recognised by UNESCO.

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, the traditional fast-breaking meal is ham with horseradish, sausages, bread, and hard-boiled Easter eggs. Godparents often give presents such as 'Osterzopf' (a sweet pastry dish) or 'Osterlamm' (a cake in the shape of a lamb). These are baked on Easter Saturday and eaten for lunch on Easter Sunday.

Easter Eggs

Colourful Easter eggs are traditionally hard-boiled and dyed. On the evening before Easter Sunday, they are hidden throughout the house and garden, along with sweets and small presents. Another tradition is 'Eierpecken', where two people bash hard-boiled eggs together, with the pointy end facing forward, to see whose egg will crack first.

Easter Monday

On Easter Monday, many people in Tirol take part in the Emmaus Procession, a long walk through the meadows. The name comes from a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus appeared to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus after his death and resurrection.

Easter as a public holiday

Easter is a public holiday in Austria, and it is probably the most important holiday of the Christian year. The country is traditionally Catholic, so Easter tends to be a religious rather than commercial occasion.

The Easter period in Austria is characterised by cultural highlights such as Passion Plays, Palm Sunday celebrations, and Easter markets. In Tirol, the Easter Festival is one of the most prestigious and recognised Easter festivals in German-speaking countries, with concerts, dance performances, and passion music presented over two weeks in Innsbruck and Hall.

In the lead-up to Easter, people in Austria decorate eggshells, a tradition that dates back centuries. The contents of the eggs are blown out, and the outsides are painted or coloured using beads, fabrics, or other materials. These decorated eggs are often hung on the Osterbaum (Easter tree), created from thin tree branches, usually willow, bought from flower shops.

On Easter Sunday, children take part in an Eiersuchen (egg search), scouring gardens or apartments for hard-boiled eggs. They also play Eierpecken, an Easter version of conkers, where two opponents knock their egg ends together, aiming to crack their opponent's egg.

On Easter Sunday, the 40 days of fasting for Lent officially come to an end, and families gather for a feast. Traditional foods include sweet bread (Osterpinze), cold cuts, coloured eggs, and horseradish.

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