Intangible cultural heritage

Specialities of individual pharmacies have been part of local traditions for a long time and include knowledge on nature, cures and healing that had formerly been passed down orally, and have since been documented in recipe books. The making of these products requires certain special instruments, pharmaceutical resources and skills. Austrian pharmacists consider this transferred knowledge as part of their cultural heritage.

Every year, the mountain fires at the Ehrwald Basin in Tyrol burn brightly around the summer solstice of June 21. Each participating group chooses a figure that is to be drawn, drafted according to the inclination of ground and built using different types of fuel. These figures, which are always topical and up-to-date, are not revealed before June 21.

For centuries, coal mining constituted the economic basis of life for the inhabitants of Bad Bleiberg. Even though the mine in Bad Bleiberg (Carinthia) has been closed since 1992, numerous initiatives try hard to safeguard and transfer the traditions passed down by the “Knappenkultur”: the miners’ language, sloping tunnels, “Knappenspiel” (a form of theatre play performed in mines), “Ledersprung” and the Saint Barbara mass (both in honour of the miners’ patron).

The Lake Constance Radhaube, a wheel-shaped bonnet, is unique due to its ornaments, which are made of golden and silver threads of equal quality on either side. The bonnet is typically worn in combination with traditional (Austrian) dress (“Tracht”) on festive occasions such as dance performances or festivals.

Blueprint in Burgenland involves the dyeing of fabric with the help of a special type of printing technique called “Reservedrucktechnik” (resist printing). Traditionally, wood patterns and paste are used to apply the requested design onto the fabric, which is subsequently dyed indigo. It is said that textile printing was probably discovered by chance and can now be traced back for centuries in countries such as Hungary, Turkey, the Czech Republic or Egypt.

Three-step Alpine transhumance is an agricultural practice used to this day by farmers in the Bregenz Forest, whose land typically produces insufficient amounts of non-silage feed to keep their livestock nourished the entire year round. A seasonal cycle sees farm families first migrate with their cattle to a "Vorsäß" [a low-altitude mountain pasture] in the late spring and then up to the "Alpe" [an alpine pasture] around the beginning of July. And in mid-September, the families drive their…

The "Glöcklerlauf" [Bell Ringers’ Procession] in Ebensee, which takes place on 5 January of each year, is typified by the all-white dress of the participants (who march in groups referred to as "Passen"), the wearing and ringing of large bells, the various other figures marching along, and the bearing of illuminated outsized caps. Recent decades have seen interest in the "Glöcklerlauf" processions increase in large parts of the Salzkammergut region due to the recognition of this tradition’s…

Falconry is the art of hunting with birds. In the strictest sense of the term, “falconry” denotes hunting with specially trained falcons, although goshawks, sparrowhawks (kestrels), and eagles are also used. The centuries-old tradition of the courtly “falcon corps” evolved into a tradition-conscious, sustainable form of hunting that with regard to habitat protection is referred to as the “silent hunt”, as it represents a natural relationship between the prey and the raptor.

"Schemenlaufen" denotes a Carnival ("Fasnacht") procession in the Tyrolean Oberland town of Imst that features 26 different types of masks and is characterised by its bright colours, constant motion, and a fascinating rhythmic sound. Carnival traditions in Imst are documented as far back as 1597 and have been celebrated with unbroken enthusiasm right up to the present day. The "Schemenlaufen" takes place (with some exceptions) every four years in February, most recently in 2016.

For generations, the gunsmith´s craft in Ferlach (Carinthia) has lived from collaboration between specialists. Stockmakers shape wood to create the stocks, engravers design the surfaces of the metal parts, and gunsmiths combine the various parts in the necessary form.

Bonfire Sunday ("Funkensonntag") is the first Sunday following Ash Wednesday and thus stands at the beginning of Lent, just after the end of the Carnival ("Fasnacht") period. As early as Fat Tuesday, the bonfire fir ("Funkentanne")—which, in some places, can be up to 30 metres high—is cut down. The construction of the bonfire ("Funken") itself begins on the Saturday immediately prior to Bonfire Sunday, with all of the materials collected by the bonfire guilds ("Funkenzünften") and volunteer…

Every year in the Carinthian community of Heiligenblut am Großglockner, in the night between 5 and 6 January, carollers ("Sternsinger" – lit. “star singers”) go from house to house bringing blessings to the inhabitants. Each carolling group (referred to as a "Rotte") consists of one star-bearer ("Sternträger"), five instrumentalists, and nine singers—all men aged 16 and older. Heiligenblut’s tradition of carolling, which probably dates back to the 16th century, has been preserved largely in its…

The traditional knowledge of healing treatments and their practical application possessed by people in the Pinzgau region was surveyed and documented in written form for the first time in 2005. The medicinal substances employed—such as pitch, mountain arnica, and St. John’s wort—are available locally, embedded in the cultural context, and hence inseparably linked with the region. The associated experiential knowledge is handed down orally and through actual practice in accordance with the…

"Hundstoaranggeln" on the mountain Hoher Hundstein in Pinzgau is an event featuring what is probably the oldest sport currently practiced in the Alps. The last Sunday in July sees hundreds of people make the pilgrimage up the Hoher Hundstein in order to experience this contest as spectators or as participants. It is said that "Ranggeln", a style of wrestling, is the Alps’ most honest contest of strength for men.

To this day, knowledge of classical horsemanship and the haute école on and above ground is handed down orally from one generation of riders to the next at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and presented to the public in domestic and international horsemanship demonstrations. As part of this, the young cadets and assistant riders learn not only from their older colleagues but also from the school stallions themselves.

The tradition of bread-making in the Lesach Valley, especially in the communities of Maria Luggau and Liesing, encompasses the cultivation and preparation of grain in an Alpine farming region, the knowledge necessary to construct mills, and baking the bread in home ovens. These things go hand in hand with preservation of the valley’s cultural landscape as well as typical specialised dialect expressions.

Telling fairy tales consists in the art of entertaining people by conveying stories in a playful and intellectually stimulating way. The metaphors that fairy tales employ are so simple yet so subtle that they instantly connect all those listening by virtue of their comprehensibility while at the same time allowing listeners to go deeper and reflect in highly diverse ways.

The construction of brick industrial smokestacks and firebrick-lined industrial furnaces involves special techniques and artisanal skills. Stove and chimney masonry is prominent above all in the Burgenland communities of Neutal, Ritzing, and Sigless. The families in which this trade is practiced identify strongly with stove and chimney masonry, as do their villages as a whole.

The Austrian folk dance movement is rooted in the research and collecting activities of a number of people at the end of the 19th century and borrowed from rural traditions that have survived only in fragments. Simultaneously with the systematisation and recording of the various dances, the orientation toward characteristic Austrian dances began. These dances were not only collected and preserved for posterity; they were also increasingly taught and thus saved from extinction.

The dialect spoken in the valley known as the Ötztal is the strongest and most defining element of its inhabitants’ local identity. This dialect can look back upon a nearly 900-year tradition. Its use within families, at work, in school, and on official occasions (such as municipal council meetings, etc.) ensures that the Ötztal dialect is passed on from one generation to the next.

Every first Sunday following the feast day of St. Leonhard (6 November) witnesses Perchtoldsdorf’s traditional Vineyard Guards’ Procession (called the "Hütereinzug" or, in the local dialect, "Hiataeinzug"). It was once customary for winemaking operations to employ vineyard guards during the period when grapes grow ripe. Such guards, sworn in and paid for by the community, would spend several weeks living in small huts out in the vineyards to protect the ripening grapes from both animals and…

The tradition of bird-catching in the Salzkammergut region encompasses the capture of individual members of endemic forest species during the autumn, keeping these birds in aviaries following the catching season, and showing them to the public the Sunday before "Kathrein" (St. Catherine’s Day) in late November at the woodland bird show in which prizes are awarded for the birds judged most beautiful in terms of their magnificent colours, health, and state of care. In the spring, the birds—with…

The tradition of "Samsontragen" [lit.: carrying Samson] is a permanent element of this region’s traditional calendar and always attracts numerous onlookers. The period before and after Corpus Christi (referred to locally as "Prangtag") sees representations of the Biblical character of Samson—in the form of procession figures nearly seven metres tall and weighing up to 100 kg—paraded publicly with accompaniment by the local brass bands in 12 communities in Salzburg’s Lungau region as well as in…

Ceremonial marksmen’s guards serve as an element of local traditions all over the province of Salzburg. Although there exist massive differences from community to community, above all in terms of the weapons that see use (which range from traditional wooden rifles to hand cannons and full-sized canons), the responsibilities carried out by each marksmen’s guard organisation ("Schützenverein") in its respective community are very similar.

Metal forging has a very long history in Ybbsitz (Lower Austria). Certain forging dynasties, known as the “black dukes” (Schwarze Grafen) due to their skills and their outstanding wealth, have 200 year-old family traditions. The blacksmith shop of the Welser family has been within the family for 15 generations, for example.