Public Holidays
Since Roman Catholicism is the predominant Christian denomination in Austria, most of the public holidays are Catholic ones. At the same time, and in contrast to Switzerland or Germany, Good Friday is a public holiday not just for Catholics, but for all citizens belonging to any denomination that observes Good Friday.
Although most holidays in Austria are defined in the federal labour law (Arbeitsruhegesetz), some are due to other sources of law such as social partnership collective contracts (see: Austria's "social partnership"). Due to the special emphasis that the Austrian labour law puts on the collective contract, in Austria such contracts are not limited to members of the union that negotiated the contract. This means that the collective contract is actually more like a law than a union agreement.
In addition to national holidays, some holidays are defined on a state-by-state basis. Abbreviations for the Austria states are described in States of Austria.
Easter Sunday and Whitsun are not listed below, since these will always by definition fall on a Sunday and are therefore already regulated by Sunday laws.
| English Name | Local Name | Date | B | K | NÖ | OÖ | S | ST | T | V | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Neujahr | 1 January | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Epiphany | Heilige Drei Könige | 6 January | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Saint Joseph | Josef 5) | 19 March | • | • | • | • | |||||
| Good Friday | Karfreitag 1) | floating holiday (Easter Sunday - 2 days) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Easter Monday | Ostermontag | floating holiday (Easter Sunday + 1 day) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| National Holiday Labour day | Staatsfeiertag (Tag der Arbeit) | 1 May | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Saint Florian | Florian 4) 5) | 4 May | • | ||||||||
| Ascension | Christi Himmelfahrt | floating holiday (Easter Sunday + 39 days) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Whit Monday | Pfingstmontag | floating holiday (Easter Sunday + 50 days) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Corpus Christi | Fronleichnam | floating holiday (Easter Sunday + 60 days) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assumption of Mary | Mariä Himmelfahrt | 15 August | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Rupert of Salzburg | Rupert 5) | 24 September | • | ||||||||
| Carinthian Plebiscite | Tag der Volksabstimmung 5) | 10 October | • | ||||||||
| National Day (Declaration of Neutrality) | Nationalfeiertag | 26 October | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| All Saints | Allerheiligen | 1 November | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Martin of Tours | Martin 5) | 11 November | • | ||||||||
| Leopold III, Margrave of Austria | Leopold 3) 5) | 15 November | • | • | |||||||
| Immaculate Conception | Mariä Empfängnis 2) | 8 December | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Christmas Eve | Heiliger Abend (CC) | 24 December | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Christmas | Christtag | 25 December | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| St. Stephen's Day | Stefanitag | 26 December | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| New Year's Eve | Silvester (CC) | 31 December | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Total number of days 6) | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
(CC) day off or partly day off due to collective contract (German: Kollektivvertrag)
1) Holiday according to the federal labor law, but applies only to the followers of the Reformed churches and Lutheran Church, the Old Catholic Church and the Methodist Church.
2) If 8 December is a working day, employees may work in shops.
3) Until 2003 it was also a holiday in Upper Austria.
4) A holiday only since 2004.
5) Holidays by state law, primarily affecting schools and state offices.
6) The total number of holidays that apply for all employees is 13, or 12, if 2) applies.
Read more about this topic: Austrian Art
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