104. Jägerball – Ball vom Grünen Kreuz
For more than a century, the last Monday in January has belonged to the Jägerball, the ball of the Grünes Kreuz, which takes over both the state rooms of the Hofburg and the baroque riding hall of the Spanish Riding School. This is the great gathering of the Austrian hunting world, with some five thousand guests: here white tie gives way to country dress. The dress code is strict and checked at the door — dirndl or Tracht covering the knee for women, no leather breeches; hunting dinner jacket (bow tie permitted), Tracht suit or knee-length leather breeches with jacket and tie for men. The 104th edition is held under the patronage of the Province of Styria. Entry of the guests of honour and opening ceremony by the Jungdamen- und Jungherrenkomitee at 21:00, second opening at the Spanish Riding School at 23:00, tombola at 23:55, midnight quadrille in the Festsaal, public quadrille in the riding hall at 01:00.
Line-up : Organisation: Verein Grünes Kreuz, Vienna 1st district (Barbara Payer, secretary general). The 2027 edition is under the patronage of the Province of Styria. Opening committee recruited by audition at the Tanzschule Elmayer (young women 16-24, young men 17-24), rehearsals compulsory.
How to get in
Verein Grünes Kreuz — Jägerball office, Führichgasse 8/4/8, 1010 Vienna (Barbara Payer, secretary general)
Written request for cards and tables from 7 September 2026 at 10:00, by e-mail to the ball office; card €210 (€100 for ages 16-24) plus seating from €40 in the Hofburg or €85 at the Spanish Riding School. Requests exceeding the quota go onto the waiting list.
The turnkey stay
On the last Monday in January, the Hofburg and the Spanish Riding School open for the Jägerball – Ball vom Grünen Kreuz, born in 1905 out of mutual aid among hunters around Prince Alexander zu Solms-Braunfels. For this 104th edition under the patronage of Styria, some 5,000 guests in silk dirndl and loden spread through the imperial state rooms, the opening staged at 21:00 by the house of Elmayer. At 23:00 the solemn opening unfolds beneath the chandeliers of the baroque Winterreitschule — the white hall where the Lipizzaner stallions usually parade, and which becomes for one night the most improbable of dance floors.
Where to stay
- Rosewood Vienna — Petersplatz 7, 1010 Vienna, in the heart of the old town: about five minutes on foot via the Graben and the Kohlmarkt to Michaelerplatz and the Hofburg entrance — the shortest route to the ballroom. Viennese suites including the St. Stephen's Suite, Asaya spa, Neue Hoheit restaurant and bar on the upper floors (the bar on the sixth), and the THE1835 rooftop with its cocktails facing the roofs of the Innere Stadt.
- Hotel Sacher Wien — Philharmonikerstraße 4, 1010 Vienna, opposite the State Opera: the Hofburg is a five- to ten-minute walk along the Albertina. A house opened in 1876, home of the Original Sacher-Torte, distinguished with three Michelin Keys. Dining in the Rote Bar and the Grüne Bar, plus the Café Sacher; Sacher Boutique Spa with hammam, sauna and gym — useful on waking, since a Viennese ball ends very late.
Where to dine
- Steirereck im Stadtpark — Three stars in the Guide Michelin Austria 2026 and 33rd in the World's 50 Best 2025. Heinz Reitbauer at the helm, brigade led by Michael Bauböck, in a mirrored glass pavilion grafted onto a 1904 building, the former dairy of the Stadtpark — Am Heumarkt 2A, 1030 Vienna, a few minutes by car from the Hofburg. Its name, "the Styrian corner", echoes the Styrian patronage of this 104th edition.
- Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant, Palais Coburg — Two Michelin stars, Coburgbastei 4, 1010 Vienna, about ten minutes' walk from the Hofburg. Since 2011 Silvio Nickol has signed tasting menus blending French elegance, Asian nuances and regional produce. Beneath the palace, now a hotel-residence, six cellars hold more than 60,000 bottles. Reservation essential.
What to experience
- Morgenarbeit des lipizzans à l'École espagnole d'équitation — See by day the hall where you will dance by night. The Morgenarbeit takes place in the baroque Winterreitschule, Michaelerplatz 1: the Lipizzaner stallions work there to classical Viennese music, from still-dark young horses to accomplished "white stars". Session of about an hour, at 10:00; tickets online or at the school's box office.
- Tanzschule Elmayer, valse viennoise avant le bal — The institution that stages the opening of the Jägerball — set for Monday 25 January 2027 at 21:00 in the Hofburg — housed since 1919 in the Palais Pallavicini, Bräunerstraße 13, a step from the Hofburg. Viennese waltz classes, express pre-ball courses and opening committee rehearsals: the only way to arrive at the ball knowing how to turn left.
Official event website →