Customs and traditionsLungau adventure region

Customs and culture play an important role in the Lungau Holiday Region in the sunny south of the Salzburg province: museums, pilgrimage churches, castles and palaces offer sightseeing programs and activity programs for children and adults. Guests of the Romantik Hotel Wastlwirt in St. Michael become true contemporary witnesses to the exciting history of the alpine region in southern Salzburg and gain deep insights into the lives of our ancestors.

Customs and culture cultivated by young and old

Between Katschberg and Obertauern and in the side valleys of the Lungau, dialect and traditional costume are still important. Unique customs are the expression of a long lived tradition. Many have hardly changed at all to this day. The entire cycle of the year is characterized by an original custom that is deeply rooted and passed on to the next generation with great care and love.

The Lungau Tourist Board’s cultural program and calendar of events offers a wide range of dates to which vacationers are warmly invited.

• Easter

  Easter

  A lot of tradition awaits you around the Easter Festival in Lungau

  Original customs are cultivated in the Lungau and have a firm place in everyday life, for example at Easter. Then the church bells are silent in the Lungau from Maundy Thursday to Easter. Instead, the local Ratscherbuam with their ratchets replace the ringing of bells.

  Easter fire, Pinzen, Ratscherbuam, Eiertutsch’n, Gonesrennen

  Particularly spectacular are the artfully timbered Easter fires, up to 12 metres high, which are lit after the consecration of the fire on Holy Saturday. We would be pleased to accompany you to this tradition, which has been cultivated for centuries. On Easter Sunday, the UNESCO Biosphere Park Lungau celebrates the resurrection, during which the Easter ham is also consecrated, before you set off in search of the hand-dyed Easter eggs. A genuine Lungau Easter celebration also includes the hand-shaped Easter butter. The milk for it is supplied by regional farmers. The small works of art in lamb shape melt deliciously on the tongue and once again show why the Lungau is one of Austria’s regions of pleasure.

  Program

  Maundy Thursday

  • Easter egg dyeing with Kindertante Erika
  • Construction of the Easter fires by the local clubs
  • Fire station

  Good Friday

  • Ratscherbuam in front of the Wastlwirt inn with tradition anno 1499
  • Easter Concert – Public Rehearsal
  • Easter week market

  Easter Saturday

  • Resurrection celebration with food consecration
  • Easter fire (ignition from 20.00 hrs)
  • Easter night celebration

  Easter Sunday

  • looking for a happy Easter nest with Kindertante Erika
  • High mass with food consecration
  • Easter concert of the citizen music

  Easter Monday

  • Gonisrennen Wölting
• Prangstangen

  Prangstangen

  How thousands upon thousands of flowers come to the pole

  Few places in the world have such a great tradition as the Lungau Prangstangen and annual Prangstangentragen in June. The parade with the metre-high poles decorated with flowers only takes place in our neighbouring towns of Zederhaus and Muhr. Up to 50,000 flowers – daisies, gentian, peonies, mountain carnations – are collected and woven into flower garlands.  The garlands can be up to 8 metres long and weigh up to 80 kg.

  The Prangstangen was put on the list of the immaterial cultural heritage by the UNESCO

  The name is derived from the Middle High German prangen – to flaunt, to boast, to show off. Allegedly this custom follows an ancient promise of the villagers, who wanted to protect themselves from another plague of locusts by carrying the flower-decorated poles around. Originally, Hifler, 2.5 m long wooden sticks for drying hay, were carried in the procession. Over the centuries, these became more and more magnificent, larger and thus also heavier. Thus meanwhile always two boys carry a pole.

  Every year on 24 June

  the celebration of the birth of John the Baptist in Cedar House

  21 – 23.06.: Wreath tying and pillory wrapping at the Maurerhaus memorial farm and at various farms in the nature reserve community of Zederhaus.  Visitors are very welcome!
  23.06.: from approx. 05:30 pm: wrapping the prangstangen in the parish church of Zederhaus
  24.06.: at 08:30 a.m. festive service; from 09:30 a.m. procession with prancing poles; from about 12:00 a.m. the Trachtenmusikkapelle Zederhaus plays
  15.08.: approx. 09:30 am herbal consecration and bringing home of the prangstangen.

  Every year on 29 June

  to Peter and Paul in Muhr

  until 28.06.: Wreath tying and prangstangen wrap at various farms in the Muhr nature reserve community.
  28.06.: Wrapping of the pillory poles in the parish church of Muhr
  29.06.: Festive service and procession with prangstangen, these are carried through the village by the bachelors.
  15.08.: Consecration of herbs and bringing home of the pillory poles.

• The giant Samson

  The giant Samson

  The Samson has season from the end of May to the beginning of October

  When it comes to tradition, the Romantik Hotel Wastlwirt can keep up with the giant Samson. After all, we look back on a tradition of more than 500 years.

  When the biblical giant Samson with his 60 to 80 kilos is carried through the streets by a single man, it is a spectacle without equal with brass music, spectators and long tradition – and unique in all of Europe. In total, there are 12 Samson figures around the Wastlwirt, the inn with tradition. The Samson Carrying was put on the UNESCO list of immaterial cultural heritage. You should not miss this!

  Details

  height of the Samson: 4,5m
  Weight of the Samson: 64 kg
  First written mention of Samson: 1754 in an invoice

  When and where is the giant Samson to be seen in St. Michael?

  • Choir Festival Fire & Voice
  • Corpus Christi and Samson Procession
  • Various early morning pints (such as the Schützengarde, citizen music, voluntary fire brigade)
  • Harvest festival and market festival
  • further dates in the whole Lungau
• Medieval Festival

  Medieval Festival

  Medieval festival in Mauterndorf

  Every year at the beginning of summer, Mauterndorf Castle, along with the market and its inhabitants, is transformed into a medieval spectacle. For a whole weekend, young and old can really live the Middle Ages. This medieval festival in Mauterndorf feels like a leap in time.

  A whole town in the Middle Ages

  The taverns and inns offer many delicacies of the past days. The smell of pita bread baked over the fire, grilled skewers, roasted oxen and all kinds of sweet things from the Orient is everywhere. Here at the medieval festival in Mauterndorf, the bailiff, noblemen, knights and squires mingle with the people.

  Jugglers, sword fights, real medieval bards and dance performances from this special time fascinate everyone. When evening comes, the fire-breathers come and illuminate the medieval alleys and the shining eyes of the children.

  Date and further information

• Preberschießen

  Preberschießen

  Aim into the water – hit the target

  From one bank of the mirrored lake, the mirror image of the target set up on the other bank is fired at. The ball bouncing off the water surface must hit the cardboard target hanging over the water. The shooting distance at Prebersee is about 120 m and the centre of the target is 50 cm above the water surface.

  Water target shooting at the Prebersee

  Since 1834, shooters from all over the world have been meeting every year on the last weekend in August to compete in this very special and unique sport on the Prebersee in Lungau.
  “This only works here – and only in late summer, when the Prebersee reaches a certain water temperature and thus the right tension for the rebound”. (vienna newspaper.at from 22.07.2012)
  This is because the water of the Prebersee is enriched with so many organic substances and is therefore so “dense” that it does not let a ball through. Although it is immersed three to five centimetres into the water, it is then “peeled off”, as it is correctly called. (http://diepresse.com on 28.08.2010)
  One of the most common aiming errors is caused by reversing the target in the mirror image. If a shot is displayed too high, the shooter must aim even higher and vice versa.

  Dates

  Middle of June: Opening shooting
  Last weekend in August: Big Preberschießen
  Mid-October: Final shooting

• Fire and voice

  Fire and voice

  Romantik Hotel Wastlwirt is partner hotel of the International Choir Festival in and around St. Michael.

  Also this year the International Choir Festival Fire and Voice will take place around St. Michael. For 11 years already, choirs from neighbouring countries have been meeting every year in June. Germany, Switzerland, … from everywhere people come to St. Michael who are enthusiastic about the magic of the voice.

  Singing touches the soul

  Fire and voice makes the heart beat! Not only the choirs themselves become enthusiastic listeners, also locals and guests are welcome to listen and sing along!
  You will also be enchanted and touched by the different venues around St. Michael, such as Moosham Castle, the parish church of St. Michael, various alpine huts or the pilgrimage church of St. Leonhard.

  Program

  You can always find the current programme on the Fire & voice homepage.

  Dates

  05.06.-07.06.2020 (FR-SO)

• Cultural Association

  Cultural Association

  Culture entan Tauern

  The Lungau Cultural Association has been bringing culture to the Lungau for 40 years now. From self-staged theater performances to concerts and movie nights with special films, from exhibitions to writing competitions and readings from a wide variety of professions.

  40 Years Anniversary

  Every year, around 200 events, projects, campaigns and in-house productions are held with around 13,000 visitors.

  In the year of the 40th anniversary of Lungau Kultur, there will naturally be very special cultural delicacies.

  For the exact program and further information, please visit Lungau Kultur