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Austria's school holidays are governed by federal law, with the autumn, Christmas, Easter and Whitsun breaks the same across the country, while the February semester break and the summer holiday are staggered by federal state. Vienna shares its semester week with Lower Austria and Burgenland and belongs to the eastern summer group that starts earliest. The wider system is covered on our Austria country hub, and this page narrows it down to Vienna for 2026.
Vienna public holidays 2026
Vienna schools close on Austrian national public holidays. Several fall within term time in 2026, including the run of spring holidays around Ascension, Whitsun and Corpus Christi, and the National Day on 26 October. Where a public holiday lands on a weekend, as Assumption does in 2026, there is no separate school day off.
| Holiday | Date 2026 |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day (Neujahr) | Thursday 1 January |
| Epiphany (Heilige Drei Koenige) | Tuesday 6 January |
| Easter Monday (Ostermontag) | Monday 6 April |
| State Holiday (Staatsfeiertag) | Friday 1 May |
| Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) | Thursday 14 May |
| Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag) | Monday 25 May |
| Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam) | Thursday 4 June |
| Assumption (Mariae Himmelfahrt) | Saturday 15 August |
| National Day (Nationalfeiertag) | Monday 26 October |
| All Saints' Day (Allerheiligen) | Sunday 1 November |
| Immaculate Conception (Mariae Empfaengnis) | Tuesday 8 December |
| Christmas Day (Christtag) | Friday 25 December |
| St Stephen's Day (Stefanitag) | Saturday 26 December |
The cluster of holidays in May and June, Ascension on a Thursday, Whit Monday, then Corpus Christi on a Thursday, produces several long weekends in late spring, and many Vienna schools declare the intervening Fridays as free days (schulautonome Tage). Confirm these school-autonomous days with your school, as they are decided locally.
Term dates 2025-26 and 2026-27
The Austrian year runs in two semesters split by the February semester break, rather than in three English-style terms. The table gives the Vienna dates for the current 2025-26 year and the anchors of the 2026-27 year that begins in September. Vienna's school year always opens on the first Monday of September.
| Holiday (Vienna) | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| School year opens | Monday 1 September 2025 | Monday 7 September 2026 |
| Autumn break (Herbstferien) | 27 to 31 October 2025 | 27 to 31 October 2026 |
| Christmas (Weihnachtsferien) | 24 December 2025 to 6 January 2026 | 24 December 2026 to 6 January 2027 |
| Semester break (Semesterferien) | 2 to 8 February 2026 | Early February 2027 (confirm) |
| Easter (Osterferien) | 28 March to 6 April 2026 | Late March 2027 (confirm) |
| Whitsun (Pfingstferien) | 23 to 25 May 2026 | Mid-May 2027 (confirm) |
| Summer (Sommerferien) begins | 4 July 2026 | Early July 2027 (confirm) |
The 2025-26 dates are confirmed from the Austrian school-holiday framework for Vienna. For 2026-27 the autumn, Christmas and the 7 September start are fixed, but the exact February semester week, the Easter break and the Whitsun and summer dates depend on how the calendar falls and on the federal-state rotation, so those are shown as indicative and should be confirmed against the official Ministry of Education (BMBWF) calendar before booking travel.
Building your Vienna school shortlist?
Vienna has one of Europe's deepest international sectors, including IB, British, American, French and German-curriculum schools alongside the Austrian state system. Our school finder filters by curriculum and fee tier.
International school term dates
International schools in Vienna broadly track the northern-hemisphere rhythm but set their own structure. Austrian state schools follow the two-semester pattern in the table above, with the February semester break as the pivot of the year. International schools, such as the long-established IB and English-language schools serving the city's large diplomatic and United Nations community, more often run three terms with an October half-term and a longer winter break, or a two-semester American calendar. They generally keep their summer break close to the Austrian one but can begin in late August and finish in mid-June, and their Easter and February breaks rarely match the state dates exactly. Because Vienna hosts so many international institutions, families comparing schools should line up each school's published calendar side by side. Our curriculum guide explains how each system shapes the year and its exam seasons.
Planning the year
Two practical notes for Vienna families. First, the February semester break is prime ski season, and because Vienna shares its week with Lower Austria and Burgenland, the eastern resorts and the route to them are at their busiest; book accommodation early. Second, Vienna is in the early summer group, so children break up in the first week of July while western states such as Vorarlberg and Tyrol carry on for another week, which spreads holiday traffic but means the Adriatic and Mediterranean fill with Viennese families from early July. Families weighing schools alongside the calendar can start a shortlist from the Vienna city hub and compare systems in our curriculum guide.
Common questions
When do schools break up for summer in Vienna? Vienna is in the eastern summer group, which breaks up first. The 2026 summer holiday begins on Saturday 4 July 2026, so the last school day is Friday 3 July, and the new year starts on Monday 7 September 2026.
How long is the summer holiday in Vienna? About nine weeks, from 4 July to the start of September 2026, with the 2026-27 year opening on Monday 7 September 2026.
When does the 2026 school year start in Vienna? In eastern Austria the year starts on the first Monday of September, so the 2026-27 year begins on Monday 7 September 2026.
When is the semester break in Vienna in 2026? The February semester break runs from Monday 2 February to Sunday 8 February 2026. Vienna shares this week with Lower Austria and Burgenland.
When is the Easter holiday in 2026? The Austrian Easter break runs from Saturday 28 March to Monday 6 April 2026, covering Holy Week through Easter Monday.