January 2024 - Intercultural calendar

The calendar provides an overview of public holidays, traditional and religious holidays and international commemoration days without intending to be exhaustive.

1 January: New Year's Day (public holiday) - international

The first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar

6 January: Epiphany (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, public holiday) - Christianity

Celebrates the visit of the three Magi, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, to infant Jesus. There is the custom of "Sternsingen" (star singing) and of writing the letters C+M+B (Christus mansionem benedicat = Christ bless this house) on entrance doors. Some regions also commemorate the baptism of Jesus and the miracle at Cana. The Greek-Orthodox community in Vienna celebrates the Great Blessing of Water on Epiphany Day on the Danube Canal. A cross is immersed into the water three times to bless the water.

6 January: Orthodox Christmas Eve (Orthodox) - Christianity

The Orthodox churches of Albania, Armenia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Jerusalem, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Eritrea and the Coptic-Orthodox Church etc. follow the Julian calendar. Traditionally, friends and family greet each other with the words "Christ is born!" and the response "Glorify Him". The festivities start with an evening service, the Christmas liturgy. The focus is on celebrating with the family. There are different local customs, for example, nuts and dried plums are put on a table under which there is hay as a symbol of the stable, the place where Jesus was born. Another tradition is a meat-free feast consisting of 12 dishes.

7 January: Orthodox Christmas Day (Orthodox) - Christianity

As is customary, a young man visits the family in the early morning, picks up an oak stick in front of the entrance door and stirs the glow in the oven: each spark symbolises the birth of a child. The young man who brought luck to the family is invited for a meal and receives presents. Another custom is to prepare a sweet dish consisting of poppy seeds, raisins, honey and nuts, which is said to confer immortality. It is a holiday in Orthodox churches that follow the Julian calendar.

25 January: Tu Bishvat - Judaism

The name is derived from the Hebrew date of the holiday, which occurs on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. It is also called the "New Year of the Trees". The day is marked by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land such as grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.