Origin and History
Already in pre-Christian times, people lit fires in honor of the goddess Ostara and paid homage to her with a specific festival of light. In 739, St. Boniface reported on the Easter fires of the Germanic tribes, whose customs he tried to eradicate with great zeal. From this time onwards, the church sanctified the Easter bonfire and thus gave it a Christian character.
The custom of Easter fires has been preserved up to this day. The following allegedly true story is also linked to these Lungau Easter bonfires: When the French invaded the Lungau region in 1797, they were so surprised by the traditional Easter gunfire and thought they were surrounded by enemies lurking all over the place. So they fled head over heels.