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To the spa— Experience
Four seasons, one starting point.
Around 130 experiences from the doorstep – with driving time, a hosts’ tip and the official link.
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Enquiry & contact— Customs & events
Palm bundles in spring, garlanded cattle in autumn, gun salutes and straw-clad figures in Advent: in the Berchtesgaden region, customs are part of everyday life. Here you can see what happens when – and how to join in as a considerate guest.
— Through the year
Most customs in the Berchtesgaden region follow the church year and the summer on the high pastures. Clubs, parishes and families keep them alive for their own sake: visitors are welcome at many of them, but some deliberately take place without an audience, and some dates are never published. Our calendar shows what happens when – and where you can watch.
— The year in the valley
Click an entry to jump to the explanation further down.
Rauhnächte & Epiphany
until 6 January
New Year salutes by the Christmas marksmen
31 Dec 11.45 pm to 1 Jan 12.15 am
Whip-cracking in the Rupertiwinkel
contests mostly at weekends
Last days of the Advent market
until 3 January
Carnival balls and parades
2027: 4 to 9 February
Last days of whip-cracking
until Shrove Tuesday (2027: 9 February)
Maypole raising
1 May (a Saturday in 2027)
The salt miners’ Bergfest
Whitsun, 2027: 16/17 May
Leonhardi ride in Holzhausen
Whit Monday, 2027: 17 May
Corpus Christi processions
2027: 27 May
Alm summer: the huts open
usually from mid-June
Midsummer and St John’s fires
around 21 and 24 June
Folk evenings in Schönau
Thursdays in season, 8 pm
Schellenberg church fair and market
Sunday after St Ulrich’s Day (4 July)
Costume and marksmen’s day
on a Sunday in July
Mountain Masses on the pastures
mostly at weekends, weather permitting
Alphorns and music on the Kastensteinerwand
July and August, 7 pm
Herb bundles blessed on Assumption Day
15 August
St Bartholomew’s Day: garland-making begins
24 August
Almer pilgrimage to St. Bartholomä
Saturday after 24 Aug (2027: 28 Aug)
Rupertikirtag fair in Salzburg
around 24 September
Cattle drive from the Stoißer Alm
2027: Saturday 25 September
Mountain Masses as the Alm summer ends
at weekends, weather permitting
Cattle drives in the valley and across the lake
until mid-October, no dates published
Harvest festival
usually 1st Sunday, 2026: 4 October
Kirchweih, the church fair Sunday
3rd Sunday, 2026: 18 October
Sunday before Easter · every parish
In the weeks before Easter, fathers bind branches of pussy willow into palm bundles. Mothers and children make the decorations from dyed wood shavings: little concertinas, balls and rolls known in dialect as “Ziamusi”, “Ohrein” and “Rollein”. Bundles as colourful as these are typically found only in the Berchtesgaden region.
On Palm Sunday the children carry them to be blessed, followed by a procession and Mass – in every parish, from the collegiate church in Berchtesgaden to Bischofswiesen and Oberau. Many boys put on their short lederhosen for the first time that year, even if snow is still on the ground. Afterwards the palms go out to the fields, into the prayer corner at home and onto family graves.
When
Sunday before Easter – 21 March 2027
Where
every parish, e.g. Bischofswiesen and Oberau
Times
in the Stiftsland parish service schedule (German)
For guests
watch outside the church just before the blessing
Our tip
You will see the bundles best outside the church just before the blessing – the Mass that follows is a service, not a performance.
When
1 May
a Saturday in 2027
Changing villages in the valley and the Rupertiwinkel
Around 1 May · in the villages
In the days around 1 May, the maypole is heaved upright centimetre by centimetre, by hand and with plenty of “heave-ho”. Brass music, dancing and a village fête go with it, often a pole-climbing contest too. In the Berchtesgaden valley the trunk is usually freshly peeled and left natural; in the Rupertiwinkel it is painted blue and white and hung with guild and club emblems.
Raising the pole together stands for community spirit, and every maypole is a kind of calling card for its village. Because a maypole usually stays up for several years, not every village puts up a new one each spring. Which villages will do so in 2027 is announced at short notice in the events calendar.
When
around 1 May – a Saturday in 2027
Where
changing villages in the valley and the Rupertiwinkel
Duration
raising takes hours, then a village fête
For guests
welcome; follow the stewards in the festival area
Our tip
Come along for the late-morning Frühschoppen – that way you will see the raising from the very start.
Whitsun · Berchtesgaden town
For more than 500 years, tradition has it, the miners of the Berchtesgaden salt mine have celebrated their guild festival at Whitsun. They wear their historic uniform and carry the tools of their trade, from hammer and chisel to ceremonial axes, while the longest-serving miner shoulders the guild emblem, the “Bergmanndl”. The ceremony underground is for miners only; the church parade, service and procession are open to all.
On Whit Sunday at 8 pm, drummers and the miners’ band march through town, followed by an open-air concert on the palace square. On Whit Monday at 10 am the miners set off from the salt mine through the Nonntal quarter to the collegiate church. After the service of praise and thanksgiving at 10.30 am, the grand procession moves through town at around 11.30 am, ending at the Hofbrauhaus.
When
Whit Sunday and Monday – 16/17 May 2027
Where
salt mine, Nonntal, collegiate church, town centre
From the hotel
approx. 12 min by car · bus 841/839
Note
the salt mine is closed to visitors on Whit Monday
Our tip
Good spots line the route from Nonntal past the collegiate church to the market square; check exact times in the events calendar shortly before.
When
Whitsun
16 and 17 May 2027
Salt mine, Nonntal, collegiate church and Berchtesgaden town centre
June to September · on the high pastures
Nowhere else in Bavaria are so many high pastures still actively farmed as around Berchtesgaden, and Alpine pasture farming is listed as intangible cultural heritage in Bavaria. From late May into the autumn, herdsmen and dairymaids tend the cattle; the traditional huts usually serve walkers from mid-June to late September, Schüsselkas cheese included. On the Kammerlingalm near the Hirschbichl pass, Bavarian and Austrian farmers share the pasture.
Mountain Masses belong to the Alm summer too, held on pastures and at mountain chapels from May to October, mostly at weekends. On the Saturday after St Bartholomew’s Day (24 August), up to 2,000 pilgrims from Maria Alm cross the Steinernes Meer plateau to St. Bartholomä on Lake Königssee. The pilgrimage is recorded as far back as 1635, in thanks for the end of the plague.
Huts open
usually mid-June to late September
Mountain Masses
May to October, mostly at weekends, weather permitting
Almer pilgrimage
Saturday after 24 August – 28 August 2027
For guests
keep your distance from cattle, dogs on a lead
Our tip
An Alm is not a petting zoo: keep your distance, take no selfies with grazing cattle and give cows with calves a wide berth.
Summer season · across the valley
The mountain costume societies keep traditional dress, dance and music alive, among them D’Funtenseer in Schönau and D’Achentaler in Ramsau. Their great day is the Trachten- und Schützenjahrtag on a Sunday in July, shared with the Christmas marksmen since 1950: after Mass in the collegiate church, more than 1,000 participants march through Berchtesgaden in a grand procession.
For a closer look, the D’Funtenseer folk evening offers Schuhplattler dancing, music and alphorns on Thursdays in season at 8 pm in the Gasthaus Unterstein in Schönau. In Bischofswiesen itself, alphorn players, musicians and singers meet on four summer evenings on the viewing platform of the Kastensteinerwand, moving into the Brenner Bräu inn if the weather is bad.
Jahrtag
a Sunday in July – 2027 date not yet set
Folk evening
Schönau, Thursdays at 8 pm in season, free entry
Kastensteinerwand
four evenings in July and August, 7 pm, free entry
From the hotel
Kastensteinerwand approx. 45 min on foot · 9 min by car
Our tip
At the Jahrtag, find a spot on the market square early – that is where all the costumes and marksmen pass by together.
Late September to mid-October · valley and Lake Königssee
From St Bartholomew’s Day on 24 August the farmers start “kranzen”: they bind Fuikln, crowns of young spruce tops decorated with up to 200 rosettes and stars of dyed wood shavings – around 30 hours of work each. Young cattle get the simpler Latsch’n-Boschn of mountain pine, and the lead cow wears the grandest headdress. The animals are decorated only if the summer passed without mishap.
In the Berchtesgaden valley, dates are deliberately not published: the drive depends on weather and pastures and is not staged. Unique in the Alps is the crossing of Lake Königssee, where some 30 cows from the Salet and Fischunkel pastures ride for about an hour on wooden barges to the Seelände landing stage, to be decorated only there. The Stoißer Alm in the Rupertiwinkel keeps a fixed date.
When
late September to mid-October, around Michaelmas (29 Sep)
Dates
deliberately not published in the valley
Stoißer Alm
25 Sep 2027 per official calendar, arrival approx. 4 pm
For guests
keep the path clear, dogs on a lead, don’t touch the cattle
Our tip
No date can be promised – ask locally in autumn, and with a little luck you will see the boats arrive at the Seelände.
Late November to 3 January · town and villages
The Berchtesgaden Advent market, set between the royal palace, the collegiate church and the Watzmann, deliberately favours local crafts, folk music and regional food over reindeer and Santa Clauses. Oversized versions of the local Christmas-tree ornaments stand between some 50 huts, and on Saturdays brass players perform from the bell tower of the collegiate church. The lantern trail leads across the brine-pipeline footbridge to the Kirchleitn chapel and back.
Away from the market, in villages such as Oberau with its parish church, Advent is quieter. On the first three Thursdays, children and teenagers go singing from house to house (Klöcklsingen). The Berchtesgaden Advent Singing at the AlpenCongress offers folk music without kitsch, with a shepherds’ play, and Bischofswiesen usually holds a small, volunteer-run Advent market on its town hall square on the third Sunday of Advent.
When
20 Nov 2026 to 3 Jan 2027, closed on 25 Dec
Opening hours
Mon–Fri from noon, Sat/Sun from 11 am; 24 and 31 Dec 10 am–4 pm
From the hotel
approx. 12 min by car · bus 841/839
Lantern trail
2.1 km, approx. 80 m ascent, approx. 60 min – bring a torch
Our tip
Come in the early afternoon – the organisers say it gets busy from about 3.30 pm – and walk the lantern trail as dusk falls.
Buttnmandl parade
5 Dec
from Strub barracks to the palace square
During Advent they also visit Loipl and Winkl, both part of Bischofswiesen
First Sunday of Advent to Christmas Eve · Bischofswiesen and the valley
The Buttnmandl are wrapped from head to foot in long threshed straw, with fur masks and heavy bells tied round their waists, whose clanging was once meant to wake nature from its winter sleep. The fur-clad Kramperl keep the group together and pass on the orders of St Nicholas, who appears here in a bishop’s robes. In this form, the custom exists only in the Berchtesgaden region.
Buttnmandl running is a house-visiting custom: the groups call on local families; it is not a show for spectators. In Bischofswiesen they go out in Loipl on the first and in Winkl on the second Sunday of Advent, in Maria Gern on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. The public exception is the mountain troops’ parade every 5 December since 1962, from the Strub barracks in Bischofswiesen to Berchtesgaden’s palace square.
Parade
5 Dec, mulled wine from 1.30 pm at Strub barracks, departs 2 pm
Arrival
approx. 3.15 pm on the palace square, Berchtesgaden
House visits
Loipl 1st Advent · Winkl 2nd Advent · 5/6 Dec in many places
For children
loud and frightening – prepare little ones
Our tip
Don’t follow or provoke the groups – anyone who gets too close may feel the “Lebensrute”, a switch of twigs, across their legs.
Advent to New Year · the whole valley
A week before Christmas Eve, on 17 December at 3 pm, the first salutes echo round the valley: the Christ Child is being welcomed with gunfire. The roots lie in ancient noise customs against the dark season; when bans failed, the tradition was given a Christian meaning. Since the early 19th century the Weihnachtsschützen have fired short-barrelled hand mortars, each club from its own traditional spot on a hillside.
Some 3,000 members in 17 clubs, five of them in Bischofswiesen, keep the custom alive; since 2018 it has been on Bavaria’s list of intangible cultural heritage. On Christmas Eve they fire from 11.30 pm until midnight, then all falls silent apart from six single shots at the consecration. They also fire on high feast days and for weddings: early shots at the weekend usually mean a bride and groom.
Christ Child salutes
17–24 December, daily at 3 pm (varies by club)
Christmas Eve
11.30 pm to midnight, six single shots at the consecration
New Year’s Eve
11.45–11.59 pm and 12–12.15 am
Firing spots (examples)
Schönau: Hanauerstein · Königssee: Bernbichl
Our tip
The salutes are extremely loud: bring ear protection for children, leave dogs indoors and never step in front of or between the marksmen.
All year · Berchtesgaden town
Painted chip boxes, kitchen utensils and wooden toys: the “Berchtesgadener War” was made by poor farmers and miners as a winter sideline, with craft regulations dating from 1535. Pedlars such as Anton Adner carried these penny wares on wooden back-frames as far as Venice, Munich and Nuremberg. In 1805, 641 woodworkers were still at it, before tin toys pushed the trade aside.
The best-known piece is the Oaschpfeifirössl, a little wooden horse with a whistle for a tail – once the prince-provostry’s export hit and, since 2010, the emblem of the Advent market. Since the early 20th century the woodcraft has also decorated the Berchtesgaden Christmas tree. You can buy it at the Berchtesgadener Handwerkskunst shop in the Alte Fronveste, and in Advent an exhibition lets you watch the craftspeople at work.
Shop
Alte Fronveste (c. 1510), Schlossplatz 1½, Berchtesgaden
Open (2026)
Mon–Fri 9 am–12 pm and 2–6 pm, Sat 9 am–1 pm
Exhibition
12 Dec 2026 2–5 pm, 13 Dec 10 am–5 pm, AlpenCongress
Museum
Schloss Adelsheim, Mar–Oct, Thu–Sun 10 am–4 pm (2026)
Our tip
You will find the Oaschpfeifirössl at the Fronveste, at the stall in the Advent market and in the online shop – a souvenir with a story.
— More customs
Folk belief held that the twelve nights between Christmas and Epiphany, the Rauhnächte, were a time in between, charged with special powers. On many farms, families still walk through parlour, house and cowshed with embers, incense and herbs from the bundle blessed on Assumption Day (15 August). That remains private; in public, the star singers go from house to house and chalk the blessing “20*C+M+B+27” on the doors.
“Aper” means free of snow. Teams of usually nine crack the Goaßl, a whip with a pitch-coated hemp lash, one after another in strict rhythm – perhaps to drive out winter or wake the seed beneath the snow; nobody knows for sure. The custom lives in the Rupertiwinkel along the Saalach and Salzach rivers, not in the Berchtesgaden valley; its highlight is the Rupertigau contest with over 1,700 active whip-crackers.
Dates from the Schnalzer association (German) ↗Berchtesgaden is no carnival stronghold: the season is celebrated mainly at club balls and small parades, for instance in Winkl, part of Bischofswiesen, while the big processions take place in Teisendorf and Bad Reichenhall. A true rarity is the Schäfflertanz of the TSV Berchtesgaden sports club. Its coopers in red jackets and leather aprons dance only every seven years – after 2026, probably not until 2033.
Events calendar (German) ↗The Easter Vigil begins with the blessing of the Easter fire outside the church. During the Vigil and on Easter Sunday morning, every church in the region blesses the food families bring, before Easter breakfast at home. A special sight is the eight-metre Holy Sepulchre in the monastery church at Höglwörth, lit by 81 glass globes of coloured water – but it is only set up every three years.
Stiftsland parish services (German) ↗Locally, Corpus Christi is called “Prangertag”, from an old word for parading in finery. Processions lead to decorated altars, accompanied by costume societies, banner parties and brass bands, in some places by gun salutes too. In Marktschellenberg the day starts at 6.30 am with the Mass of the Corpus Christi riflemen; after High Mass at 8 am the procession circles the village – in fine weather only.
Corpus Christi in Marktschellenberg (German) ↗Midsummer bonfires have been recorded since the Middle Ages; the Church linked them with St John the Baptist, whose feast on 24 June was once the deadline for bringing in the first hay. Easiest to reach is the party at the top station of the Jennerbahn cable car: at around 9 pm the Königssee fire brigade lights the St John’s fire, and the cable car runs until midnight.
Jennerbahn events (German) ↗On the first Sunday in October most parishes decorate their altars with the fruits of the harvest. In farming villages, Erntedank gives thanks for the harvest and for a summer without accidents. In Ramsau, on 4 October 2026 at 8 am, the procession walks to the decorated pilgrimage church at Kunterweg and back; afterwards the brass band plays in the Oberwirt’s beer garden, provided it stays dry.
Each church used to celebrate its own consecration day. Because there was always a fair going on somewhere, the Bavarian dioceses set a common date in 1866: the third Sunday in October, nicknamed the “Allerweltskirta”, everybody’s church fair. On that day the red-and-white Kirchweih flag hangs from the church tower. Salzburg’s Rupertikirtag around 24 September and the Schellenberger Kirtag with its market in July are feasts of their own.
Rupertikirtag in Salzburg (German) ↗The Leonhardiritt is a procession on horseback honouring St Leonard, patron saint of livestock. Horses wear braided manes and flowers, and riders and carters in traditional dress receive a blessing. Not far away, Grödig at the foot of the Untersberg holds its ride around 6 November; the ride in Holzhausen near Teisendorf, with more than 300 horses and considered the district’s oldest cultural event, is held on Whit Monday instead.
Leonhardi ride in Holzhausen (German) ↗— Key dates 2026/27
20 Nov 2026 – 3 Jan 2027
Christmas market with a lantern trail between the palace and the collegiate church, closed on 25 December; the following seasons run from 19 Nov 2027 to 3 Jan 2028 and from 24 Nov 2028 to 3 Jan 2029.
Advent market website ↗5 Dec 2026
St Nicholas, the straw-clad Buttnmandl and the Kramperl set off at 2 pm from the Strub barracks in Bischofswiesen and reach the palace square in Berchtesgaden at around 3.15 pm.
Buttnmandl at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗12/13 Dec 2026
Folk music, Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter and a shepherds’ play at the AlpenCongress (Sat 3 pm and 7 pm, Sun 11 am and 3 pm), alongside the exhibition of Berchtesgaden craftsmanship.
Advent Singing at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗11–17 Jan 2027
After its reconstruction, the Königssee ice track welcomes the World Cup back: skeleton on Fri 15 Jan, bobsleigh on Sat 16 and Sun 17 Jan 2027.
Königssee ice track at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗6/7 Feb 2027
The Berchtesgaden section of the German Alpine Club turns the Jenner into a ski-mountaineering arena, from 8 am to 5 pm on both days.
Jennerstier at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗2–7 Mar 2027
The luge season ends at Königssee, with races on Fri 5 Mar from 11 am, Sat 6 Mar from 8 am and Sun 7 Mar 2027 from noon.
Königssee ice track at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗16 Jul – 29 Aug 2027
The festival in Salzburg’s old town, approx. 40 min from the hotel by car, includes the famous “Jedermann”.
Salzburg Festival programme ↗25 Sep 2027
The only cattle drive with a fixed date in the official calendar: the animals are decorated from 1 pm on the Teisenberg and reach Seiberstadt (Teisendorf) at around 4 pm, weather permitting.
Stoißer Alm at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗27/28 Nov 2027
More than 800 candle lanterns and scenes of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter by the monastery lake in Anger, 4–8 pm on both days; held only every other year, so not in 2026.
Lantern festival at berchtesgaden.de (German) ↗— Good to know
Gun salutes and whip-cracking are very loud: bring ear protection for children, leave dogs indoors and never stand in front of or between the marksmen.
At a cattle drive, animals and farming families come first: keep the path clear, keep dogs on a lead, don’t touch or feed the cows and follow the helpers.
Buttnmandl and the Klöckler carol singers visit families: please don’t follow the groups, and prepare small children for the loud, wild-looking figures.
Masses and processions are services, not performances: watch from the side and take photos discreetly, without flash and never close up without asking.
At fêtes and parades, follow the stewards and helpers and respect the barriers – at maypole raisings and whip-cracking contests in particular.
Book directly with us – over breakfast we are happy to help you plan your days.
