Public holidays in Germany

Public holidays can be national or regional but most are recognised under the laws of federal states. They will generally close banks, post offices and most shops and businesses where observed, as well as some attractions, though restaurants will most often remain open. Transport arrangements might also vary on some of these days.

When planning for the days listed below, double check with tourist information offices and read timetables carefully for exceptions. Generally opening times at attractions follow the principle of using Sunday hours on public holidays. Germany does not transfer holidays to weekdays when they fall on the weekend.

Many festival days are drawn from the Lutheran or Catholic calendars and accordingly can vary in observance in various parts of the country.

Holidays

New Year’s Day (Neujahrstag, national) – January 1. New Year’s Eve (Silvester, see below) is party time.

Epiphany (Epiphanie, Ephiphanias or Heilige Drei Könige, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt)  – January 6

Shrove or Pancake Tuesday (Fastnacht, Fasching or Karneval) – not strictly a public holiday, this late February festival, before Ash Wednesday and the fast of Lent, brings Rose Monday (Rosenmontag) night parades and events that affect normal business and access in many cities. This is especially so in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Aachen and other parts of Nordrhein-Westfalen, as well as Mainz and parts of Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Württemburg. It also closes many public monuments and museums. Restaurants may serve fish on Ash Wednesday.

Good Friday (Karfreitag, national) – Businesses closed.

Easter Sunday (Ostern, national) – Businesses closed.

Easter Monday (Ostermontag, national) – Businesses closed.

Labour Day (Tag der Arbeit or Maifeiertag, national) – May 1, combining the traditional May feast with the international celebration of labour and its parades.

Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt, national) – The Thursday 39 days after Easter Sunday.

Pentecost or Whitsunday (Pfingsten, national) – Seven weeks after Easter Sunday.

Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag, national) – 50 days after Easter Sunday.

Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, parts of Saxony and Thuringia) – Thursday, 60 days after Easter Sunday.

Peace of Augsburg (Augsburger Friedensfest, Augsburg) – August 8. Oddly this remembrance of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia is gazetted only for the Bavarian city.

Assumption Day (Mariä Himmelfahrt, Saarland, parts of Bavaria) – August 15.

Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit, national) – October 3, commemorating the 1990 reunification of East and West Germany.

Reformation Day (Reformationstag, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Pomerania) – October 31.

All Saints’ Day (Allerheiligen, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland) – November 1.

Day of Prayer and Repentance (Buß- und Bettag, Saxony) – The third, or occasionally fourth Wednesday of November.

Remembrance or Eternity Sunday (Ewigkeitssonntag or Totensonntag, except Hamburg) is the last Sunday before Advent, closing some attractions or Christmas markets on the grounds of traditional prohibitions against public music.

Christmas Eve (Weihnachtsabend or Heiligabend), not a true public holiday, closes many museums and other attractions – December 24.

Christmas Day (Weihnachten, national) – December 25.

Boxing Day or St Stephen (Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag or Stephanstag, national) – December 26.

New Year's Eve (Silvester), not a true public holiday, nonetheless closes many museums and other attractions – December 31.