Christmas and New Year Traditions on Lake Traunsee

Every year, around Christmas and the turn of the year, the people of the Salzkammergut proudly celebrate their numerous traditional customs, some of which have gained fame well beyond the region.

In fact, every year on 5 January, a loud ringing of bells can be heard in Ebensee, a little town on the southern shore of Lake Traunsee (see photo).

It is the night before Epiphany, locals refer to as the ’Rauhnacht’, when the annual Glöcklerlauf Parade is opened at 6pm sharp. Then up to 500 white-dressed ’Glöckler’ (’bell men’) wearing 20-kg lantern-type ’caps’ and equally heavy cow bells parade through the snow-laden town.

Some hundred hours are necessary to make one of these elaborate ’caps’ – candle-lit wooden structures decorated with different colored paper (see photo). The aim of this unique parade, which is also a big draw for photographers, is to attract good spirits and ward off evil ones with the heavy bells and the candle lights.

More peaceful, yet equally atmospheric, events are the Kripperlroas, or crèche tours. A Kripperlroas involves a guided tour of various private homes with the chance to admire the owners’ elaborate crèches with nativity scenes that reflect the local scenery around Lake Traunsee. Consisting of more than 1,000 figurines, these impressive crèches are proudly handed on from one generation to the next. The crèche carvers, or the ’Schnegerers’ as they are called in Ebensee, have a some-hundred-year old tradition. The Kripperlroas tours take place every year until 2 February.

The four Landhotels located around Lake Traunsee offer special packages that provide you with the chance to enjoy the Glöcklerlauf Parade or a Kripperlroas - for details, click here .