National Holidays
1 January:
New Years Day
Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday on variable dates.
1 May:
May (Labor) Day
4 May:
St Florian’s Day
St. Florian’s Day commemorates a Third Century Roman officer who served as a military administrator in the town of Noricum, in what is today Austria. Florian is said to have prevented a town from burning to the ground by throwing a single bucket of water on the blaze. This incident led to his association with firefighters and others who protect us from fire. St. Florian is also recognized as the patron saint against battles and floods, as well as the patron saint of good harvests.
During the persecutions ordered by Diocletian, Florian, a secret Christian, was ordered to execute a group of Christians but he refused and subsequently professed his own faith. He was martyred in ca. 304 AD after being scourged (i.e., nearly flogged to death), flayed alive (i.e., skinned alive), a stone tied to his neck, and dumped into a river. His body was later retrieved by Christians and buried at an Augustinian monastery near Lorch.
St. Florian was declared the patron saint of the Greifenberg people by Ducal Decree of HRH Grand Duke Paul in 2006.
19 July:
Sovereign’s Birthday
27 October:
National Day
National Day is the principal national holiday in the Grand Duchy of Greifenberg. Originally known as Proclamation Day, National Day festivities celebrate the anniversary of the date when Greifenberg was first declared a sovereign nation.
Third Sunday in November:
Day of National Remembrance
25 December:
Christmas Day
26 December:
St. Stephen's Day (Feast of St. Stephen or Boxing Day)
St. Stephen’s Day honors the first Christian martyr, stoned to death shortly after the Crucifixion.
31 December:
Silvester (New Year’s Eve)
