Austria Public Holidays: Different from Germany?

#austria #blog #guide

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title: "Austria Public Holidays: Different from Germany?"
description: "Austria has 13 national public holidays a year, several more than Germany. This guide to austria public holidays lists every austria holidays 2026 date, compares the two neighbours' calendars, and explains the österreich feiertage you can count on nationwide.","
tags: ["austria", "blog", "guide"]

canonical_url: https://public-holidays.shop/en/blog/austria-public-holidays

Austria and Germany share a language, a border, and a lot of history, but not the same holiday calendar. Austria keeps austria public holidays at 13 national days a year, four more than Germany's federal floor. This guide walks through every austria holidays 2026 date, explains the österreich feiertage newcomers always trip on, and shows where the two neighbours actually differ.

Why Austria has more holidays than Germany

Both countries are federal, but they split holiday law differently. Germany leaves most days to the Lander, so only a handful are national. Austria does the reverse: it locks 13 days at the federal level and adds almost nothing locally. The result is a country where the whole calendar is the same everywhere, which makes planning easier and surprises rarer.

The extra days are mostly church feasts. Epiphany on January 6, Corpus Christi in June, Assumption on August 15, All Saints on November 1, and the Immaculate Conception on December 8 all count as national holidays in Austria. In Germany these are regional or not observed at all.

The complete austria holidays 2026 list

  - Jan 1 (Thu): New Year's Day
  - Jan 6 (Tue): Epiphany
  - Apr 6 (Mon): Easter Monday
  - May 1 (Fri): Labour Day
  - May 14 (Thu): Ascension Day
  - May 25 (Mon): Whit Monday
  - Jun 4 (Thu): Corpus Christi
  - Aug 15 (Sat): Assumption Day
  - Oct 26 (Mon): National Day
  - Nov 1 (Sun): All Saints' Day
  - Dec 8 (Tue): Immaculate Conception
  - Dec 25 (Fri): Christmas Day
  - Dec 26 (Sat): St. Stephen's Day

That is thirteen days, and Austria rarely shops for bridge days the way Germany does, because many of them already fall next to weekends in 2026. May 1 on a Friday and October 26 on a Monday hand you two free long weekends with zero planning.

Germany vs Austria: the real differences

Germany's national days are New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour Day, Ascension, Whit Monday, German Unity Day (Oct 3), Christmas, and St. Stephen's Day. Austria swaps German Unity Day for October 26, and adds Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints, and December 8. Good Friday in Austria is only a holiday for members of certain churches, not the general public, which surprises visitors from Protestant Germany.

Regionally, Austria is boring in a good way. Salzburg adds St. Rupert's Day in late September, and a couple of states observe local patron feasts, but the national 13 cover you everywhere. Compare that with Germany, where you need a map to know if a Tuesday is a holiday in your state.

How to check any date in seconds

Do not memorise the list; check it. Open public-holidays.shop, pick Austria, and you get the full year with each day marked national or regional. Filter by month, check a specific date, and look for bridge days before you book anything. Banks and post offices close on national holidays, supermarkets mostly follow, and tourist towns in Vienna and Salzburg keep restaurants running.

One tip: December 8 is a Tuesday in 2026, and many Austrians take December 7 as an extra day off to make a four-day gap. If you travel that week, expect city centres quieter than usual from Monday afternoon.

FAQ

How many public holidays does Austria have? Thirteen national public holidays, among the most in Europe. German speakers say österreich feiertage; the list includes church feasts Germany does not observe, like Epiphany and Corpus Christi.

What is Austria's National Day? October 26, marking the 1955 law that made Austria permanently neutral. Germany celebrates October 3 instead, which is one of the biggest calendar differences between the two countries.

When are austria holidays 2026 with a long weekend? May 1 falls on a Friday, and October 26 lands on a Monday, so both make three-day weekends. Christmas 2026 is also convenient: December 25 is a Friday, December 26 a Saturday.

Do all Austrian states observe the same holidays? The 13 national ones apply everywhere. A few states add one local day, like St. Rupert in Salzburg, but the differences are small compared with Germany's federal patchwork.

Want to learn more? Visit https://public-holidays.shop/en/blog/austria-public-holidays for the full guide.

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