Next: 20 Oct 2026
St Wendelin's Day
The feast of the herdsman saint of the Rhineland and the Alps, when cattle and horses are blessed in his processions.
Cattle at St Wendelin's Day
Wendelin is remembered as a hermit and herdsman who looked after the cattle and sheep of a local lord near Trier in the seventh century, and he became the patron saint of herders and their animals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. His feast is on 20 October. The town of St. Wendel in the Saarland, which grew round his tomb, holds a pilgrimage and a procession of riders and animals, and in Bavarian and Swabian villages farmers bring cattle and horses to chapels dedicated to him for a blessing. Many cowsheds in the south of Germany once kept a small picture of the saint with his flock.
Also part of it, and being written: Glan cattle (The red cattle of the Glan valley, close to St. Wendel.), Hinterwald (A small hill breed of the Black Forest.), Vorderwald (The red pied cattle of the Black Forest farms.).
Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Wendelin of Trier" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.