What does Christmas in Austria look like? Complete information in our article!

What does Christmas look like in Austria?

Who brings gifts to children abroad?

Today, we will explore the Christmas holidays in Austria together.

We will advise you where to find the TOP Christmas markets, and not only in Vienna.

We will reveal what Christmas customs the Austrians observe.

Today, even your kitchen can smell traditional Austrian sweets (the recipe below).

When is Christmas celebrated in Austria and who brings presents to good children?

Christmas in Austria is celebrated on December 24. However, Santa does not bring gifts to kids in Austria; it’s Christkind. Christkind receives letters full of requests from young children. Children decorate the envelopes with sugar to make them shine and unmissable.

Christkind is a young girl with a Christ-like nature. Legend has it that he is the child of Jesus and has golden hair and angel wings. Christmas 24.12. in the early evening, she brings a tree with gifts and disappears before anyone sees her.

Wild and Eerie Characters: Krampus and Perchten

During Saint Nicholas’ Day on 6 December, traditional Krampus and Perchten parades take place in Salzburg. The participants wear hand-carved wooden masks, shaggy pelts, and heavy bells. These wild figures are believed to frighten away the dark spirits of the winter season, showcasing centuries-old folk customs.

The Krampus and Perchten parades are an unforgettable experience, featuring the wild jangling of bells, shaggy pelts, curved horns, and terrifying masks. As they run down the street growling, half-dancing, and half-stamping, every spectator is left slightly unsettled. This parade is as much a part of Salzburg’s Christmas season as the famous Christkindlmarkt and the almost meditative Advent Singing. You can experience this unique folk custom in the City of Salzburg from the end of November until the beginning of December. Although Perchten parades are not peaceful, they will leave you with lasting memories. It is an ancient tradition that you can only experience in this part of the Alpine world.

Krampus is a mythical creature, half goat and half demon. In the night hours on December 5th, the day before the feast of Saint Nicholas, he punishes disobedient children.

Legend has it that he is the son of the Norse goddess of the underworld, Hel. His name is of German origin and translates as ” claw.” The figure of Krampus became famous mainly through the Austrian Krampuslauf festivities. These are parades of hundreds of terrifying Krampus through the streets of nighttime cities. Their costumes can be carved from wood or just latex masks.

This scary festival kicks off Christmas in Austria!

You will find the most famous markets at Christmas in Austria!

Every year in December, it stands open with a Christmas theme, not only in Austria but all over the world. The Christmas markets of our Austrian neighbors are original in their traditional form. The beginnings of organizing markets in Vienna date back to 1296. Christmas in Austria wouldn’t be Christmas without fairs!

Various Austrian specialties are sold here, such as Raclette Brot, bread filled with tasty Alpine cheese, or Weihnachtspunsch, a wine or brandy punch sweetened with fruit juice. Such and other goodies are guaranteed at every Austrian market during the Christmas holidays.

You should visit!

• Christkindlmarkt in Vienna, the so-called “Christmas Dream.”
  • a marketplace with more than a hundred stalls in front of the town hall on Rathausplatz

• Christmas village at the Belvedér castle
  • even though this noble baroque place fills up with stalls in December, it is customary to show visitors ancient traditional crafts

• Marktplatz in Innsbruck

• Eiserne Tor in Graz
  • a fairytale place associated with an annual charity event

• Markets at Neuer Platz in Klagenfurt
  • Carinthia’s dominant Christmas market boasts a model of a dragon called the Lindwurm

Austrian Christmas traditions

Christmas time brings with it many customs. Maybe some of them will look familiar to you!

Room light

The light of peace (sometimes called the light of peace) is imported to Vienna from Bethlehem, found on the map near Jerusalem, every year on 24.12. People from all over Austria descended on the capital and spread the flame of peace.

Kripperlroas

Kripperlroas is a spectacular Nativity scene in Salzburg (Austria’s fourth largest city). It takes place every year from Christmas Day until Candlemas Day, i.e., until February 2. Building nativity scenes is an ingrained custom in Austria, which originated as early as the 18th century during the reign of Joseph II. He forbade the church to display its decorated nativity scenes, so people started making their own.

Barbara Zweig

On St. Barbara’s Day (December 4), just like Czechs and Austrians, they pluck branches of apple or cherry trees. One will have a lucky year if the twig blooms on Christmas Day.

Silent Night, Holy Night

Did you know that the carol ” Silent Night, Holy Night” originates from Austria, specifically from Salzburg?

This is where hundreds of people head to hear this song performed by the local choir. This song intended to express the desire for peace on Christmas Day 1818 after the brutal Napoleonic Wars.

How Christmas Eve is celebrated in Austria

The twenty-fourth of December is a quiet day; people visit each other or rest until evening. After that, every household prepares a Christmas Eve atmosphere. Some Austrian households make a tree even before the visit of Christkind.

The preparations are complete, and the family sits down at one table. Christmas Eve dinner takes many forms in Austria, and the region the family lives in can influence it.

For example, in Burgeland, it is tradition to serve roast goose with cabbage and dumpling. In Vorarlberg, citizens prefer a dish with raclette cheese on the Christmas Eve table. In Carinthia, smoked sausage with dark bread is popular. However, the most classic variant is fried carp with potatoes! When you have a sweet tooth, Sachertorte—chocolate cake with apricot jam—is served as the next course.

Inspiration for Austrian Christmas cookies

It is trendy and well-known in Austria, and maybe that’s why you should try it!

Vanilla rolls, called Vanillekipferl, Kokosbusserl, coconuts, or Mozart balls, are excellent Austrian inventions and are famous winter delicacies in Austria. We could list a dozen similar goodies, but today, we will focus on one type of candy in particular—Zimtsterne—honeysuckle-cinnamon stars. Here is a recipe that can make your Christmas more enjoyable!

Zimtsterne

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• pinch of salt

Method:

• Beat the egg whites first.
• Then add powdered sugar to them (sifted first) and keep two tablespoons of this mixture aside for the frosting.
• Add the cinnamon, nuts, lemon zest, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and beat until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
• Let the dough rest overnight. The next day, roll out the dough and cut out the stars.
• Reprocess the scraps and cut them again.
• Brush the entire surface of the stars with the rest of the reserved egg white mixture.
• Bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 120 degrees.

Are you inspired?

Christmas time pleases all of us! You can shorten the wait for the twenty-fourth with a trip to Austria!

Austria shares many Christmas traditions with its neighbor Germany but also has many particular Christmas customs.