Customs & Traditions in Winter

Especially when the days are short and the nights long, when it's bitterly cold and people are living off the stores they painstakingly gathered last year, customs help to ease the fear of winter's relentlessness and strengthen the hope for an early spring. Typical winter customs are therefore usually based on driving out winter and inviting spring. Evil spirits are to be expelled and good fortune and blessings are to be attracted. In addition, divination is also common. Predictions for the coming year can usually only be made on certain days and are said to provide information about upcoming weddings, births, deaths, and harvest success.

The Twelve Days of Christmas are considered particularly important. During these seemingly magical nights, all sorts of strange things happen. Livestock in the barn can suddenly talk, and people not only have the opportunity to glimpse the future but can also drive away evil spirits and attract good fortune by performing certain rituals. The following nights are considered part of the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Perchten are primarily found in the Alpine region and are divided into benevolent "Schönperchten" (beautiful Perchten) and malevolent "Schiechperchten" (ugly Perchten). The origin of the Perchten cannot be definitively established today, but most likely dates back to pagan times. Perchten appear in groups called "Passen." While Krampus runs traditionally take place before Christmas, Perchten runs are traditionally held only between Christmas Eve and Epiphany.

While Schönperchten (beautiful Perchten) are usually dressed in magnificent and colorful costumes, Schiechperchten (ugly Perchten) immediately stand out due to their costumes, which are certainly frightening to outsiders. They often wear shaggy furs and intricately carved wooden masks – so-called Larven – whose horns resemble devilish grimaces. The fur Perchten, known as Bärigln, can be found, for example, in Altaussee.

Both Schönperchten and Schiechperchten carry bells which they ring during their runs.

Perchten appear during the Twelve Days of Christmas. Their task during this time is to enforce the regulations in place for these nights. Beautiful Perchten drive away the ugly Perchten and with them, winter. They bring blessings and good luck for the new year.

Carnival is one of the oldest customs in the world. Its origins can be traced back to Celtic times. Carnival customs traditionally mark the end of winter traditions. As with other customs of this kind, these are meant to drive away the evil spirits of winter and attract the good spirits of light, which promise fertility and a bountiful harvest. This is done in different ways depending on the region. The Salzkammergut region, in particular, is rich in carnival traditions, which are still cultivated with great enthusiasm today.

This legendary carnival parade is well known far beyond the borders of Ebensee and was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.

Traditionally, this parade takes place every year on Shrove Monday. The carnival revelers, known as "Fetzen" (ragamuffins), march towards the center of Ebensee starting at 3 p.m. and then celebrate exuberantly in the town's inns until the early hours of the morning.

Typical of the participants in the Fetzenzug (rag parade) are their clothing and their elaborately carved wooden masks.

The Aussee Drum Women are out and about in the Aussee region on both Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday. Contrary to their name, however, they are not women, but men. They wear traditional women's nightgowns and parade through the villages, creating a deafening noise with their drums and trumpets to drive away winter.

On Shrove Monday, the melody of the Aussee Carnival March accompanies the female drummers during their parade. This march is characteristic of the fifth season in the Aussee region and can therefore be heard constantly.

The Aussee Flinserln are whimsical figures symbolizing spring. Every year on Shrove Tuesday, starting at 2 p.m., they parade from the Gasthaus Blaue Traube to the Kurhausplatz, watched by countless spectators. They are protected by the so-called Zacherln. At the end of the procession, the Flinserl disperse, and the local children surround them. The children then recite the Flinserl's witty rhymes and are rewarded with sweets. And even then, the Zacherl make sure that no one takes the children's treats away.

As with many other similar processions, the magnificent and unique costumes of the participants are the first thing that catches the eye. The "Flinserl" wear richly decorated and embroidered dresses made of natural linen. Besides ornaments and diamond patterns, these dresses also feature figurative depictions such as the famous Moor's head. This motif originated in Venice and, according to tradition, came to Bad Aussee through the salt trade. The dresses get their name from the sequins, called "Flinserl," with which they are lavishly embroidered. There are approximately 100 of these splendid garments, each requiring around 500 hours of work to produce.

The figures known as Pless symbolize winter and engage in an annual battle with the children of the Aussee villages. Clad in padded white robes, they parade through the villages, chased and pelted with snowballs by mostly male youths. The Pless wear beehives over their heads and carry sticks with rags at the end, which they use to defend themselves against the snowball-throwing children. Of course, the children win at the end of the procession, and winter is defeated.

This fair has traditionally taken place on Shrove Tuesday since the 18th century and has since been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Besides the fair itself with its stalls, the Rudensingen (a traditional singing competition) is a major attraction. In this competition, various groups from all over Upper Austria perform songs and dances. These performances often humorously and sometimes bawdily comment on current political events and criticize the authorities.

Ash Wednesday is not only the first day of Lent, but, along with Good Friday, also the strictest day of fasting in the Catholic liturgical year. While Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed with church attendance and the imposition of ashes, in Ebensee it is still entirely dedicated to Carnival. There, on this day, Carnival is symbolically buried and burned in the form of a larger-than-life figure dressed in rags. This figure is followed by a funeral procession, which, after the burning, washes its wallets—emptied by the Carnival revelry—on the banks of the Traun River. Afterwards, a herring feast is held.

During Lent, traditional Lenten dishes are prepared and eaten. In the Traunviertel region, the so-called "Beugerl" are particularly popular during this time. These are yeast-based pastries that are first boiled in salted water and then baked. As is customary, the ring-shaped Beugerl are divided before eating in a process called "Beugerlreißen." This tradition dates back to earlier times when several people had to share a single Beugerl.

The fourth Sunday of Lent is Liebstattsonntag (Love Sunday). This tradition originated in Gmunden in the 17th century and spread from there throughout the Salzkammergut region.

In earlier times, the wealthy members of the Corpus Christi Brotherhood would invite poorer citizens to a meal they had prepared themselves on Liebstattsonntag (the Sunday before Ash Wednesday). Today, people gather on this Sunday after church services in the town hall square and exchange gingerbread hearts decorated with cheerful or even suggestive sayings. The traditional costume associations are particularly active in this tradition, and in Gmunden they still give away not only gingerbread hearts but also – true to the original spirit of the event – bread soup.