Beautiful Perchten from Ebensee

Beautiful Perchten in Ebensee

In Ebensee at the Traunsee in Upper Austria, the evening of January 5th is really high. When dawn in Salzkammergut pulling up, more and more people are coming to the city. They gather in the cafes and inns of the city, meet with friends, stroll through the town, and there is an almost palpable tension in the air. There is talk of this at the restaurant tables. On the street you notice that something is starting to happen. People are waiting for an event that takes place every year on the last Raunacht, the night before Heilig-Drei-König in Ebensee: the run of the Glöckler, the Schön Perchten of Ebensee in Upper Austria.

 

 

Schönperchten follow ancient customs. They differ from the Schiachperchten, the ugly Perchten. The custom of the Perchtenllauf goes back to legends and myths in the Salzburg region. There are various Perchten in the Salzburg region. They differ in their costumes as well as in their headdress. While the Perchten in Ebensee walk through the village with their caps, there are others who perform dances.

 

 

The Glöcklerlauf in Ebensee

The rough nights are the nights between Christmas and January 6th, when the evil spirits wreak havoc in the mountain valleys of the Salzkammergut to drive. Most of them move as "the wild hunt" or as Krampus“ dressed in shaggy furs and wearing frightening masks, they wander through the villages and spread fear and terror. The Glöckler are different: they are so-called Schönperchten, dressed in white and with spectacular caps on the head, each of which has a different shape and is beautiful to look at. No two are the same. The inside of the caps is lit - in the past with candles, today mostly with light bulbs. On the one hand, this is safer because the risk of fire is eliminated, but it lacks a little of the magic of the flickering lights of the candles.

 

 

The beautiful Perchten of Ebensee

The first Glöckler runs were held in Ebensee around 1850. They probably represent a mixture of various spring customs. Originally, the Schön Perchten of Ebensee went from house to house until the Glöcklengeher were replaced by today's Glöckler. These are members of various groups. They make their magnificent caps themselves out of wood, transparent paper and construction paper. The caps consist of a wooden frame that forms the basic structure. All caps are decorated with motifs. Some proudly show the owner - perhaps a guesthouse, an inn or a hotel - others tell stories or fairy tales, and still others present traditional crafts from the region.

 

 

There are a whole series of such passes from Ebensee and the surrounding towns. There are even children's and women's passes. The most impressive, however, are the huge caps worn by the grown men, which the tall specimens can wear for long periods of time, because it is quite exhausting to carry these caps through the town and do the rounds. Some of these headgear weigh 20 kg or more. It is no easy task for the Glöckler, whatever the weather. And when it rains or the wind blows, it becomes difficult.

 

 

How does a Glöcklerlauf the beautiful Perchten of Ebensee?

Such a Glöcklerlauf is not a parade in the true sense. Instead, the individual groups come from all directions to the city center of Ebensee. Particularly impressive are those who carry their illuminated caps down the dark mountain. They are watched attentively by the spectators on the main street in the village. Like a string of lights they wind down the serpentines until they reach the town center.

In the meantime, all the lights are being extinguished - no street lights are shining any more, no lights are coming out of the apartments. From there, the spectators follow the bustle of the beautiful Perchten from Ebensee as tense as we on the street. From afar you can hear the Glöckler. Have you hung the heavy bells or clappers on your hips, which carry their cows in the pastures in summer? And so they spread a hell of a noise in the rhythm of their footsteps, which makes the whole experience even more impressive. For an hour, the beautiful Perchten of Ebensee wind through the village. They always follow their leader who carries no cap as the only passport member. He gives his group members directional instructions.

As a visitor, you should have some small change at hand, as the “collectors” collect small donations from the spectators. This money is used to make new masks. They walk through the rows of spectators with bags and ask for a small fee.

 With these tips, your visit to the Schön Perchten in Ebensee will be a great experience

After an hour, the last Schön Perchten disappear from Ebensee just as they came - with a lot of noise. After that, the onslaught of spectators begins on the town's inns and restaurants. If you haven't reserved a table for this, you're out of luck. We therefore recommend that you reserve a table in one of the town's restaurants when you book your hotel. Or do as we did: We had a late lunch, but skipped dinner. This also meant we could eat in peace without spoiling this great experience with long waits for the food. However, we observed hotel guests who couldn't get a table for dinner because the entire restaurant was fully booked.

For overnight stay we recommend the Gasthof zur Post directly on the main road, a country hotel (three stars) in the center. The Glöckler run directly in front of the hotel on the main street. That's why you have only a few steps to go to see them. Good when crowds move through the place. However, if the afternoon meal is not enough, you can get a warm liver sausage at the inn.

Tips on travel organization

The next Glöcklerlauf of the Schön Perchten from Ebensee will take place on January 05.01.2025th, 18 / 00:19 p.m. - 00:18.00 p.m. from 19.00:XNUMX p.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.

Landhotel Post
Hauptstraße 19
4802 Ebensee
Tel. +43 (6133) 5208
Information, availability query and online booking *

More hotels in Ebensee and surroundings *

If you book through one of these offers, we receive a commission, which we use to run this blog.

Another tip: You can admire the goblin caps all year round in the Heimatmuseum of Ebensee. This is the big yellow house behind the church. Worth a visit are also the cribs in the place, on the Kripperlroas to visit.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you know this?

• Customs in Austria in winter
• Traunsee Austria - Holidays in the Salzkammergut
• Christmas customs around the world can be found at We2ontour.de.
• An interesting blog post on the topic Customs and tradition There's from Altmühltaltipps.
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• Which rain jacket is the best?
• Comfortable winter boots
• Packing list winter vacation
• Gift ideas for travelers

Other Slow Travel Tips here.

 

Source Schön Perchten von Ebensee: On-site research with support from Upper Austria Tourism. Our opinion, however, remains our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Video: © Copyright Petar Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline