Susanne Pratscher and her students from Austria sent us a list of national holidays of the European countries. To read more about each holiday, click on the link listed below each country name.
We all know our own national holidays. Maybe, we are also informed about the holidays of the neighbour countries. But what about the holidays of all EU member, new member states and candidate countries? Here is a list of national days in 28 countries, EU member, new member and candidate countries.
National Holiday, October 26 (1955) - commemorates the day in 1955, when the Austrian Parliament passed the constitutional Law of Perpetual Neutrality; legend also has it, that this was the day when the last Soviet soldier left Austria, and the country became finally free again.
Independence Day, March 3 (1878) - commemorates the anniversary of Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, achieved through the Treaty of San Stefano.
Independence Day, October 1, 1960 - commemorates the island's becoming independent.The Turkish Cypriot area celebrates 15 November as Independence Day.
Founding of the Republic, October 28 (1918) - commemorating the country's becoming an independent state after World War I. National Liberation Day, May 8 (1945) - commemorating the liberation of the country from the Nazi regime.
The national holiday is Constitution Day, June 5. It commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the constitution of 1849, which made Denmark a constitutional monarchy, and the constitution of 1953, which was adopted on this day. The Birthday of the Queen is celebrated on April 16 (1940) - The Queen referred to is Queen Margrethe.
Constitution Day, May 3 (1791) - The eighteenth century saw the birth of the first written European constitution on 3 May 1791 in Poland. Unfortunately, by the dawn of the nineteenth century, thanks to the second and third partitions, Poland completely disappeared from the map and would be gone for more than one hundred years until 3 May, 1918. Independence Day, November 11 (1918) - commemorates the country's becoming independent from Austria and Germany after World War I.
Day of Portugal (also called National Day/Camoes and Portugal Day), June 10 (1580) - commemorates the death of Portugal's most celebrated poet, Luis Vaz de Camões.
Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising, August 29 (1944) - commemorates the uprising against the Nazi occupants. A Slovak underground movement gained strength, and aided the Soviet troops who drove the Germans out of Slovakia in late 1944. Slovak Constitution Day, September 1 (1992) Independence Day from Czechoslovakia, January 1, 1993 (Velvet Revolution)
National Holiday, October 12 - commemorates the day when a sailor on board the Pinta sighted land early in the morning of October 12, 1492, and a new era of European exploration and expansion began.
Day of the Swedish Flag, June 6 (1523) - is celebrated in memory of the founding of the kingdom of Sweden by the coronation ceremony of Gustav Vasa on June 6, 1523; and the confirmatory of the constitution law on June 6, 1809. This date was denominated the official National Day of Sweden in the year 1983, but has been celebrated as the Day of the Swedish Flag since 1916.
