In mid-November a tree of around 20 metres, usually a spruce, suddenly lies on Mirabellplatz, and a fire brigade crane lifts it upright in front of the palace. About two weeks later it is shining above the huts of the Salzburg Christmas market at Mirabellplatz. The Mirabell Palace Christmas tree comes from a different place every year; in 2026 it comes from Annaberg-Lungötz in the Tennengau region.
What is the Mirabell Palace Christmas tree? A large Christmas tree that the City of Salzburg puts up and lights in front of Mirabell Palace every Advent. It comes from a different place each year, usually in the province of Salzburg, and is lit for the first time at a ceremony with music and mayors: in 2026 on Wednesday, 25 November, at 5.30 pm.
When the tree is switched on this year is also further down.
A city tradition: a different place every year
The Christmas tree in front of Mirabell Palace belongs to the City of Salzburg, not to our market. We stand around it with our huts and look forward to its arrival every year. The city brings it from a different area each time: according to city press releases quoted by Salzburg24 in 2017 and 2022, “a different Salzburg region” donates the tree every year. According to the city, the custom is meant to show the bond between the districts and municipalities and the City of Salzburg.
The rotation is not strict. The Tennengau had its turn in 2018, 2021, 2025 and 2026, and in 2024 the tree even came from Carinthia. Often the tree does not stand in a municipal forest but in a family’s garden or by a farm entrance. We have not found any source saying how long there has been a tree in front of the palace. The oldest record we know of dates from 2007: a 29-metre, 95-year-old spruce from the Bluntau valley near Golling.
The tree’s journey: from its home village to Mirabellplatz
Reports from previous years show the route clearly. Four steps, three city departments: the fire brigade, the parks department and the lighting department.
- Felling and transport: In mid-November the Salzburg professional fire brigade and the city’s parks department fell the tree in the morning in the donor village and bring it into the city.
- Putting it up: The tree arrives at Mirabellplatz in the afternoon and is set up in front of the palace the same day.
- Decorating: The next morning the city’s lighting department hangs the strings of lights from a lifting platform. For some years now they have been energy-saving LEDs; in 2021 there were 600 of them, according to meinbezirk.at.
- First lighting: At the end of November the tree is handed over at a ceremony. Usually a band from the donor village plays, and the mayors of the city and of the donor village attend.
Sometimes something memorable happens on the way. In 2017 the fire brigade crane broke down while the tree was being put up. In 2022 the spruce from Muhr in the Lungau travelled through the Tauern Tunnel. In 2023 the 135-year-old tree from Dienten had to take a detour over the Pass Lueg because of roadworks on the A10 motorway, and it was snowing when it was lit for the first time. And in 2025 Mirabellplatz had a spruce that the donor, according to Salzburg24, had brought home from the forest as a boy and raised in his garden for more than four decades.
In 2023 the tree shone until 7 January, according to Salzburg24.
Where the Mirabell Palace Christmas tree has come from since 2017
The places of origin in recent years, with the tree details where they have been published:
| Year | Origin | Tree | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Zederhaus (Lungau) | spruce, around 21 m | stood by a family’s farm entrance; the crane broke down during set-up |
| 2018 | Abtenau (Tennengau) | no details | from the Lammertal valley |
| 2019 | Bischofshofen (Pongau) | no details | — |
| 2020 | Goldegg (Pongau) | silver fir, approx. 21 m, approx. 55 years, approx. 4 t | from the garden of a local councillor |
| 2021 | Kuchl (Tennengau) | spruce, 19 m, approx. 50 years, approx. 3 t | from a farming family, 600 LEDs |
| 2022 | Muhr (Lungau) | spruce, 20 m, 70 years, 4 t | through the Tauern Tunnel, music: TMK Muhr |
| 2023 | Dienten (Pinzgau) | spruce, 21 m, 135 years, 5 t | detour over the Pass Lueg, first lit in falling snow |
| 2024 | Rennweg am Katschberg (Carinthia) | spruce, 21 m | a tree from outside the province of Salzburg |
| 2025 | Hallein-Burgfried (Tennengau) | spruce, 20 m | planted by the donor as a boy |
| 2026 | Annaberg-Lungötz (Tennengau) | details to follow | donated by Josef Schwarzenbacher jun. |
Where the table says “no details”, we only know the place. A new row is added every year.
2026: a tree from Annaberg-Lungötz
This year the Mirabell Palace Christmas tree comes from Annaberg-Lungötz. The municipality lies in the Lammertal valley in the Tennengau, at the foot of the Gosaukamm ridge and the Tennengebirge mountains. According to Wikipedia, the municipal coat of arms shows the Bischofsmütze (“Bishop’s Mitre”), the striking mountain massif above the village. The Lammertal already supplied the tree in 2018, that time from the neighbouring municipality of Abtenau.
The tree was donated by Josef Schwarzenbacher jun. from Annaberg-Lungötz. As in many years before, the tree comes from a private individual.
Every year the plaque on the trunk names the donor – here in 2025. Photo: Sarah Baier
The tree species, height and age are not yet known. The city usually only announces such details when the tree is collected in mid-November. We will add them here.
The tree will be lit for the first time on Wednesday, 25 November 2026, at 5.30 pm, and admission is free. The running order, music and tips for the evening are in our article Christmas tree lighting at Mirabellplatz 2026.
Christmas programme
When the Christmas tree lights up for the first time this year and which brass ensembles play in front of the palace during Advent: it’s all in our programme.
Not to be confused: the Christmas tree in front of Mirabell Palace
During Advent two big Christmas trees stand in Salzburg’s city centre: one at the large Christkindlmarkt – the Austrian name for a traditional Christmas market – on Domplatz and Residenzplatz, and the one this article is about, the Christmas tree in front of Mirabell Palace. It stands right in the middle of our Christmas market on Mirabellplatz, and in most years the donor municipality comes along with its band and its mayor for the handover. According to Salzburg24, the tree on Residenzplatz comes from Golling in 2026 and is lit at the opening of the Christkindlmarkt on 19 November.
If you arrive by train, Mirabellplatz lies on the way from the main railway station into the old town, so our tree is right on your route.
During the day, a detour into the gardens right next to the palace is worth it. What is open there in winter is in Mirabell Gardens in winter. Which other customs you can experience in Salzburg during Advent is in Austrian Christmas traditions.
Frequently asked questions
From Annaberg-Lungötz in the Lammertal valley in the Tennengau. It was donated by Josef Schwarzenbacher jun. from Annaberg-Lungötz. The city is expected to announce the species, height and age in mid-November.
A different place every year, usually in the province of Salzburg, and often a family or private individual from there. In 2025 the tree came from a garden in Hallein; in 2026 it is donated by Josef Schwarzenbacher jun. from Annaberg-Lungötz. According to the city, the custom is a sign of the bond between the districts and municipalities and the city.
The City of Salzburg itself. The professional fire brigade and the parks department fell, transport and set up the tree, and the city’s lighting department hangs the LED light strings.
No. The large Christkindlmarkt on Domplatz and Residenzplatz has its own tree, from Golling in 2026. The Christmas tree in front of Mirabell Palace stands at our Christmas market on Mirabellplatz and comes from Annaberg-Lungötz this year.
The city has not yet announced a date for 2026. In 2023 the tree shone until 7 January, according to Salzburg24. Our market is open every day until 31 December 2026.
Sources
Invitation from the City of Salzburg, “Übergabe des Christbaums vor dem Schloss Mirabell”, as of 4 November 2026 (date, 5.30 pm, running order, music) · Donor 2026: information from the Weihnachtsmarkt Mirabell association (4 November 2026), also on our programme page · Accessed on 4 November 2026: City of Salzburg, press releases 2007 (Bluntau valley) and 2024 (“Aus Kärnten: Christbaum vorm Mirabell erleuchtet den Advent”) · Salzburg24, reports from 14 November 2017 (Zederhaus), 9 and 25 November 2022 (Muhr), 28 November 2023 (Dienten), 12 November 2024 (Rennweg) and 25 November 2025 (Hallein-Burgfried) · Salzburg24 on the Christmas tree on Residenzplatz from Golling (29 October 2026) · ORF Salzburg, 14 November 2023 (Dienten) · Salzburger Nachrichten, 10 November 2020 (Goldegg) · meinbezirk.at, 11 November 2021 (Kuchl) · Salzburgwiki, “Christbaum vor dem Schloss Mirabell” (2018 Abtenau, 2019 Bischofshofen) · Wikipedia, “Annaberg-Lungötz”