Liebstatt Sunday has spread throughout Upper Austria

It happened in an editorial office in Salzburg. The faux pas was big, and the outrage among some Gmund residents was at least as great. A monthly magazine that appears in the Salzkammergut reported two pages on the traditional Liebstatt Sunday – but on the one in Bad Goisern. The community can look back on a “long tradition” when it comes to Liebstatt customs. Liebstattln was already known there as a spring custom before the turn of the century. Gmunden was mentioned, but only in passing.

“I have to accept celebrations of love all over the country. But there really shouldn’t be any original or traditional celebrations anywhere other than Gmunden,” says Franz Wolfsgruber, chairman of the traditional costume association “D’Traunseer” and who has been putting his heart and soul into organizing the Gmunden holiday for more than 26 years involved.

This year it is clear that Liebstatt Sunday is no longer limited to its original location in Gmunden. In Vöcklabruck, the D’Waldhörnler traditional costume association has adopted the custom; lovingly designed hearts are offered for sale at all churches in Vöcklabruck on the weekend after the services.

In Alberndorf in the Mühlviertel, the rural youth take care of it, in Gaspoltshofen in the Grieskirchen district, the “Boundless Choir” organizes the service in the parish church, which is dedicated to Liebstatt Sunday. And in Schärding in the Innviertel there has been a “Liebstatt weekend” in recent years.

A celebration for the poor

Probably not everyone who gives themselves gingerbread hearts knows why there is a celebration all over Upper Austria on this Sunday. In 1641, the Bishop of Passau, who was then responsible for Gmunden, established his own custom for the spa town on Lake Traunsee. He commissioned the city priest to invite the city’s poor to a communal meal on the fourth Sunday of Lent and to serve it himself. Historically, it was the confirmation of the so-called Corpus Christi Brotherhood. Members of this brotherhood were wealthy and influential citizens who showed love to the poor in this way. This is where Mid-Lent Sunday got its name from. Liebstatt Sunday only became a tourist attraction in the 20th century.

For Franz Wolfsgruber it is still a matter of the heart. Since 2009 he has been visiting a school in Gmunden every year and introducing the children to the customs. “Last year, students from Ukraine baked special hearts. It almost brought tears to my eyes,” he says. Today Wolfsgruber stands up for the Gmunden tradition in the Brahms School. The community donates their hearts to it. But Wolfsgruber’s wife was also busy: “This year there were 80 gingerbread hearts, but there were also 300 once,” he says.

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