General

Styrian Tradition |

Styria is Austria’s second largest province.

Because of its extensive forests, Styria is also called the „Green Province“. 56% of the province’s territory is forested. Three-quarters of Styria is mountain terrain.

The landscape offers winter sports enthusiasts as well as mountain bikers and hikers the perfect terrain for their favourite pursuits. And the Styrians value not only their mountains and meadows, but also their traditions. Most regions speak the local Bavarian/Austrian dialect and cherish the old traditions, for example the „Perchtenlauf“ around the feast of Epiphany. In this custom, a few villagers dress up with wooden devil’s masks and get up to all sorts of mischief. Traditional costume too is no anachronism, but a fixture in many people’s lives both for everyday wear and on festive occasions.

The rural areas are especially fond of preserving their historical roots. This includes preserving the characteristic farmhouse architecture in the different regions. While there have been periods, mostly in the recent past, in which an enthusiasm for anything new resulted in the building of houses and barns without regard for traditional architecture, the old designs have come into their own again today. Old houses are lovingly renovated while new houses are built according to traditional building styles.

Styria consists of five regions which differ not only in their landscape, but also in their traditional costume and rural architecture.