Labor Day (Labor Day)

Austrians first met May Day in the spring of 1890Labor Day is celebrated annually in Austria on May 1. By law, it is a non-working, public holiday.

The Austrians first met May Day in the spring of 1890 with a strike by Viennese tram drivers, mining workers, and steel workers. After the revolution of May 1, 1919, this day was declared a public holiday.

It is noteworthy that the proletarian attributes of the holiday were often mixed with echoes of folk culture associated with the onset of May 1 Walpurgis night and the custom of decorating the May tree.

The classic May Tree is a barkless wooden pillar, sometimes painted, with a wheel fixed at the top decorated with green branches, flowers and bright ribbons. According to pagan beliefs, the May tree symbolizes the world axis around which the universe revolves. A tree without leaves symbolizing change becomes an immutable axis or center. The pillar is male symbolism, and the disc located on the top of the pillar is female. Put together, they represent fertility. The seven ribbons are the colors of the rainbow.

With the May tree, installed in the center of the Austrian village, a large number of rituals and customs are associated. For example, you need to protect your tree from kidnappers and, at the same time, try to steal the May tree from the neighboring community. After the tree is stolen, the auction begins, the party that lost the tree must treat the winner with a beer.