What time is it in Austria?
CET / CEST · Europe/Vienna
Back to AustriaNow in Vienna
CET UTC+01:00
UTC+01:00
UTC+02:00 in summerCentral European Standard Time
All of Austria keeps Central European Time, Mitteleuropäische Zeit or MEZ in German, at UTC+1, and puts its clocks forward to UTC+2 from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. One zone covers the whole country, filed in the time zone database as Europe/Vienna, and the change happens at 02:00 in spring and 03:00 in autumn, on the same nights as in every other state of the European Union.
Today
Daylight in Vienna today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 06:48First light 06:17
- Sunset
- 18:41Last light 19:12
- Day length
- 11 h 53 min−4 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:45Sun at 40°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Austria and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Austria is from other places
Neighbours
- SwitzerlandBernSame time
- CzechiaPragueSame time
- GermanyBerlinSame time
- HungaryBudapestSame time
- ItalyRomeSame time
- LiechtensteinVaduzSame time
- SloveniaLjubljanaSame time
- SlovakiaBratislavaSame time
Around the world
- London−1 h
- New York−6 h
- Los Angeles−9 h
- São Paulo−5 h
- Moscow+1 h
- Dubai+2 h
- Delhi+3:30 h
- Beijing+6 h
- Tokyo+7 h
- Sydney+8 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Austria
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 03:00 it becomes 02:00 CET, UTC+01:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 25 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 31 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 29 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 28 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 27 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
Austria-Hungary brought in Central European Time on 1 October 1891, at first for the railways, the post and cities such as Prague and Budapest. Vienna kept its own mean time, about 1 hour 5 minutes ahead of Greenwich, until 1 April 1893. Summer time arrived with the First World War, from 1916 to 1918 in step with the German Empire, and was used once more in 1920. From 1940 to 1945 Austria was part of Nazi Germany and followed its clocks, which stayed on summer time through the whole of 1941; the seasonal change went on until 1948. After 31 years without it, summer time returned in 1980 and has been kept every year since.
In September 2018 the European Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes, and the European Parliament backed the plan on 26 March 2019, with 2021 as the earliest start. Each member state would then have kept either summer or winter time permanently. The directive also needs the Council of the European Union, where it had not passed as of March 2026, so Austria goes on changing its clocks every spring and autumn.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Vienna
- Sunrise
- 06:48
- Sunset
- 18:41
- Daylight
- 11 h 53 min
- Change
- −4 min
Longest day of 2026: 19 June, 16 h 05 min.
Computed for 48.21, 16.37 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 05.03.26
- Long date
- 5. März 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- CET / CEST
- Time zone database
- Vienna
History
How the clocks in Austria got here
- 1890
- To 1892.Local mean time, UTC+01:05, before the standard zone.
- 1893
- The move from local mean time, UTC+01:05, to UTC+01:00.
- 1894
- To 1915.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1916
- To 1918.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1919
- UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1920
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1921
- To 1939.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1940
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1941
- Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+02:00 all year.
- 1942
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1943
- To 1948.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1949
- To 1979.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1980
- To today.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Vienna, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Austria
What time zone is Austria in?
Central European Time, UTC+1, for the winter months and Central European Summer Time, UTC+2, from late March to late October. In German the standard time is Mitteleuropäische Zeit, shortened to MEZ. There is a single zone, Europe/Vienna in the time zone database, so Vienna and every other town share one clock.
When do the clocks change in Austria in 2026 and 2027?
In 2026 the clocks went forward at 02:00 on Sunday 29 March and go back at 03:00 on Sunday 25 October, the night before National Day on Monday 26 October, so the long weekend gains an hour. In 2027 the changes fall on 28 March and 31 October, and in 2028 on 26 March and 29 October.
When did Austria adopt Central European Time?
Austria-Hungary introduced it on 1 October 1891, first for the railways, the post and cities such as Prague and Budapest. Vienna held out until 1 April 1893. Until then the capital ran on its own mean solar time, roughly 1 hour 5 minutes ahead of Greenwich, so joining Central European Time set its clocks back by about five minutes.
Has Austria always used summer time?
No. It was used from 1916 to 1918 under Austria-Hungary, in 1920, and from 1940 to 1948, the first years of that run as part of Nazi Germany, when the clocks stayed an hour ahead through all of 1941. Then came a gap of 31 years with no summer time at all, from 1949 to 1979. The clocks have changed twice a year since 1980, and since the European Union aligned its dates in 1996 the autumn change has come on the last Sunday in October.
Will Austria stop changing its clocks?
Not while the European Union proposal stays blocked. The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to end the twice-yearly change, leaving each country to pick permanent summer or winter time. Passing it needs a qualified majority in the Council of the European Union, 55% of member states holding at least 65% of the population, and as of March 2026 that approval had not come.
Is Austria on the same time as Germany, Italy and Switzerland?
Yes, all year. All eight neighbours keep UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer: Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy under the European Union rule, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which have followed the same dates since 1996. Crossing any Austrian border therefore never means resetting a watch.
How are dates and times written in Austria?
With the 24-hour clock, so half past two in the afternoon is 14:30. A short date runs day, month, year with full stops, as in 05.03.26, and the long form is 5. März 2026. Austrian German has its own word for the first month: official texts such as the Arbeitsruhegesetz write 1. Jänner, not Januar. The week starts on Monday.