I was talking over the weekend with a friend who was visiting from London and mentioned that Carnival (Fasching) starts on November 11th. I’ve so internalized this, still remember having a member of the seminar hotel waitstaff bring a bottle of bubbly into the seminar room in the middle of a session, that I was surprised that he was surprised that this should be the case. I decided to explore.
After a quick search and skimming articles, I see that often Carnival really doesn’t start until Shrovetide starts, although there is a bit of disagreement as to when that is. (Some sites say Shrove Saturday, or the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, and some say Shrove Sunday — three days before Ash Wednesday.)
Fasching, however, is a different story. According to the website feiertage-osterreich (or Austrian holidays), Fasching does really start on November 11th at 11:11 a.m. Legend has it that on November 11th, the fools are woken up. The partying isn’t supposed to start until January 7th — the day after Three Kings — but time is needed for the preparations. It’s interesting to know that on November 11th the Head Fool (Obernarr) traditionally was given the key to the city and took over the government. (Some would argue that the Head Fool rarely leaves!)
Apparently this tradition comes from the Rhineland and didn’t make it to Austria until the middle of the 20th century. It certainly has become embedded (see hotel story above) since then, possibly because it aligns with St. Martin’s Day, which has long been a part of Austrian culture!
For German speakers, there are a few more details here: https://www.feiertage-oesterreich.at/festtage/faschingsbeginn/
ecbinvienna 