Tie a palm bush for Palm Sunday . by Augarten Hotel Neustift

Updated on 18.3.2026

Palm Sunday is a special day in the church year. Since the 4th century, it has marked the beginning of Holy Week, which ends with Easter. On this day, people gather to bless and distribute palm branches. The branches are then tied and hung up as palm bushes in churches and houses. Palm Sunday is not only a symbolic day, but also a day of family reunion and joy. Many people gather to make the palm bushes together and give them as gifts. Breakfast or lunch is also eaten together with the family.

In this article we would like to show you how to tie a palm bush. Binding the palm bushes for Palm Sunday is a very popular tradition here in Tyrol.
Of course, home-baked palm pretzels are also part of the self-binding bush.

What belongs in the Stubai palm bushes:

Here in the valley, almost every plant has its own special meaning. You will come across two of them constantly on your spring hikes around our hotel in Neustift:

The soft palm catkins: The branches of the willow tree are the first real heralds of spring in the Stubai Valley. Not only do they feel wonderfully fluffy, they also symbolize the awakening of nature and the protection of the coming harvest.

The boxwood: its lush green is there all year round – a beautiful symbol of permanence and eternal life. In Tyrolean parlors, the consecrated boxwood branches are traditionally placed behind the cross in the corner of the Lord’s house. This is to protect the house and all those who live in it from bad weather.

What do you need to tie a palm bush?

We use palm catkins for the palm bushes. As the catkins of the willow are very popular with bees and are considered the first food for bees after winter, the catkins should only be cut off in the garden after flowering … preferably branches of the same length.
If you do not have willow in your garden, please do not cut off branches in the forest, but rather buy them commercially. The pastures are protected!
In addition to the branches of the palm catkins, you will also need some branches of a box tree to make the bush nice and green. You will also need colorful fabric ribbons, crepe paper, splits and scissors.

This is how you bind your own palm bush:

• Tie the palm catkin twigs together with a splits and drape the green box twigs around the palm bouquet, which you also fasten with the splits.
• Wrap the crepe paper around the bottom 10 – 15 cm of the bouquet and tuck the end into the previous rounding so that it holds well. Here you hold the bush.
• Now knot pretty bows from the fabric ribbons and attach them to the palm kitten branches together with a pretzel. We have also put together the recipe for the palm pretzels in this article.
• In Tyrol, the palm bushes are then tied to the ends of long wooden sticks. The colorful ribbons are also wrapped around these wooden sticks. On Palm Sunday, there is always a competition among the children in the church to see who has the longest palm pole. So the pole can’t be long enough!

How to bake delicious palm pretzels:

Ingredients for 16 pretzels:

• 300 g plain flour
• 75 g soft butter
• 125 ml lukewarm milk
• 50 g sugar
• Vanillin
• 1 sachet of dry yeast
• 1 pinch salt

Preparation:
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and knead to a smooth dough in a food processor using the dough hook. Form 16 balls of the same size and roll each ball into a long sausage with the heel of your hand. Then shape the sausages into small pretzels and place them on a baking tray. After you have brushed them with egg, place the tray in the preheated oven at 180 °C for 15 minutes.
After Palm Sunday mass, you can enjoy the delicious pretzels with a cup of tea.
Have fun baking them!