Midsummer Bonfires

Visit a unique midsummer bonfire.
When the longest day meets the shortest night, summer in the Wilder Kaiser region is welcomed with bonfires on the mountainside. This ancient tradition is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Every year, many clubs and associations from the region set out on this evening to light their mountain bonfire and celebrate the longest day of the year in this way. Shortly after darkness falls, large midsummer bonfires shine out from the mountains and provide a mystical backdrop. The bonfires are also known locally as “Johannisfeuer” or “Feuerbrennen”.

Many parts of Tirol also light so-called “Herz-Jesu-Feuer”, or “Sacred Heart bonfires”. These take their name from the “Herz-Jesu-Schwur”, or “Sacred Heart Oath”, of 1796, which is said to have forged Tyrolean unity in the struggle against the French and Bavarians. At the time, mountain bonfires were lit as a sign of the oath.