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PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

How do Germany’s public holidays compare to other EU countries?

Germany has several public holidays each year. Here's what they are, and how they measure up to other countries around Europe.

How do Germany's public holidays compare to other EU countries?
Tourists at a newly reopened beachside resort in Westerland, Schleswig-Holstein over Whitsun weekend. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bodo Marks

Germany

Public holidays: 9 national, including some falling on a weekend, up to 14 regionally.

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day), Good Friday (April 2nd in 2021); Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021); May 1st (Labour Day); Ascension Day (May 13th in 2021); Pentecost (May 24th in 2021); October 3rd (German Unity Day); December 25th (Christmas); December 26th (Boxing Day).

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a weekend, no substitute day is given. Bavaria is the state with the most public holidays.

Late last year, The Local asked readers in Germany if public holidays which fall on weekends should be compensated the coming week. An overwhelming majority were in favour.

READ ALSO: Should Germany ensure workers get a day off for every public holiday?

Many states have extra holidays: January 6th (Epiphany) in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt; March 8th (International Women’s Day) in Berlin; Corpus Christi Day (June 3rd in 2021) in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Hessen; August 15th (Assumption Day) in Bavaria and Saarland; September 20th (World Children’s Day) in Thuringia; October 31st (Reformation Day) in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein; November 1st (All Saints Day) in Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Bavaria; Day of Repentance and Prayer (November 17th in 2021) in Saxony.

READ ALSO: What and when are Germany’s public holidays in 2021?

Austria

Public holidays: 13 national, including some falling on a weekend. Up to 15 regionally.

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day), January 6th (Epiphany), Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021), May 1st (Labour Day), Ascension Day (May 13th in 2021), Pentecost (May 24th in 2021), Corpus Christi Day (June 3rd in 2021), August 15th (Assumption Day), October 26th (National Day), November 1st (All Saints Day), December 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), December 25th (Christmas), December 26th (Boxing Day)

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a weekend, no substitute day is given.

Some states have additional public holidays: March 19th in Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg; May 4th in Upper Austria; October 10th in Carinthia; November 11th in Burgenland; November 15th in Lower Austria and Vienna.

In addition, three further days are bank holidays but not national public holidays: Good Friday (two days before Easter Sunday), December 24th and December 31st. Depending on your employer, you may get these off work.

Denmark

Public holidays: 10 national, including some falling on a weekend.

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day); Maundy Thursday (April 1st in 2021); Good Friday (April 2nd in 2021); Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021); General Prayer Day (April 30th in 2021); Ascension Day (May 13th in 2021); Pentecost (May 24th in 2021); December 24th (Christmas Eve); December 25th (Christmas); December 26th (Boxing Day).

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a weekend, no substitute day is given.

Some industries also have May 1st (Labour Day) as a day off, while June 5th (Constitution Day) is a holiday for banks and government workers, with most shops closed too by law, but optional for the private sector.

Midsummer’s Eve (June 25th in 2021) and December 31st (New Year’s Eve) are not public holidays, but many employers treat them as such.

France

Public holidays: 10 national, including some falling on a weekend. Up to 12 regionally.

Fireworks illuminate the sky at the Eiffel Tower in Paris as France celebrates Bastille Day. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Yoan Valat

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day), Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021), May 1st (May Day), May 8th (VE Day); Ascension Day (May 18th in 2021); July 14th (Bastille Day), August 15th (Assumption Day); November 1st (All Saints Day): November 11th (Armistice Day): December 25th (Christmas Day)

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a Saturday, no substitute day is given, but if a fixed public holiday falls on a Sunday, it is celebrated on the following Monday instead.

Pentecost (May 24th) is often a holiday, but employers are free to decide.

Alsace and Morelle have two extra public holidays, one on Good Friday and one on December 26th.

Italy

Public holidays: 11 nationally, including some that fall on weekends, up to 12 regionally,

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day): January 6th (Epiphany), Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021), April 25th (Liberation Day), May 1st (Labour Day), June 2nd (Republic Day), August 15th (Ferragosto), November 1st (All Saints’ Day), December 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), December 25th (Christmas Day), December 26th (Boxing Day)

What else do you need to know?  If the holiday falls on a weekend, no substitute day is given.

There are also some extra regional holidays: April 25th (Feast of St Mark) in Venice, April 28th (Sardinia Day) in Sardinia, June 24th (Feast of St John) in Florence, Genoa and Turin, June 29th (Feast of St Peter and St Paul) in Rome, July 15th (Feast of St Rosalia) in Palermo, September 19th (Feast of St Gennaro) in Naples, October 4th (Feast of St Patronius) in Bologna, November 2nd (Feast of St Giusto) in Trieste, December 6th (Feast of St Nicholas) in Bari, and December 7th (Feast of St Ambrose) in Milan. 

READ ALSO: German politicians call for workers to get day off for public holidays that fall on weekend

Norway

Public holidays: 10 nationally, including some which may fall on a weekend, 

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Eve), Maundy Thursday (April 1st in 2021); Good Friday (April 2nd in 2021); Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021); May 1st (Labour Day), May 17th (Constitution Day), Ascension Day (May 13th in 2021); Pentecost (May 24th in 2021); December 25th (Christmas Day), December 26th (Boxing Day).

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a weekend, no substitute day is given.

December 24th (Christmas Eve) is not a public holiday, but some employers give it anyway and very few people work as this is the main day of Christmas celebrations in Norway.

Spain

Public holidays: 8 nationally, up to 14 locally.

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day), Good Friday (April 2nd in 2021), May 1st (Labour Day), October 12th (Spanish National Day), November 1st (All Saints’ Day), December 6th (Constitution Day), December 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), December 25th (Christmas Day)

What else do you need to know? If a national or regional holiday falls on a Sunday, it is up to the regional government whether to have a day in lieu on the next weekday. Additional holidays are chosen at the regional or local level.

Some public holidays are only celebrated in certain regions:

January 6th (Epiphany) in Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Catalonia, Ceuta, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia, Navarra, Valencia

St Joseph’s Day (March 19th) in Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Valencia

Maundy Thursday in Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Ceuta, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia, Navarra

Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021) in Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Catalonia, La Rioja, Navarra, Valencia

Corpus Christi Day (June 3rd in 2021) in Castilla-La Mancha

San Juan (June 24th) in Catalonia and Valencia

Eid al-Adha in Ceuta and Melilla

August 15th (Assumption Day) in Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Canary Islands, Castile and León

On top of that almost every region has at least one regional public holiday: February 28th in Andalusia, March 1st in Balearic Islands, March 19th in Basque Country, April 23rd in Aragon and Castile and León (both regions have it as their regional day), September 8th in Asturias; July 28th and September 15th in Cantabria, May 31st in Castilla-La Mancha, September 11th in Catalonia, September 2nd in Ceuta, September 8th in Extremadura, May 17th in Galicia, June 9th in La Rioja, May 2nd in Madrid, March 13th in Melilla. Each of the Canary Islands has an individual public holiday (July 3rd for El Hierro, August 5th for La Palma, September  8th for Gran Canaria, September 15th for Lanzarote, September 17th for Fuerteventura, October 4th for La Gomera). 

And each municipality usually has a further two or more extra holidays depending on local patron saints.

Reyes Magos, or Epiphany, celebrated in Barcelona on January 6th 2019. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Matthias Oesterle

Sweden

Public holidays: 9 nationally, with 3 so-called de facto public holidays.

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day), January 6th (Epiphany), Good Friday (April 2nd in 2021); Easter Monday (April 5th in 2021), May 1st (Labour Day), Ascension Day (May 13th in 2021), June 6th (National Day), December 25th (Christmas Day), December 26th (Boxing Day). 

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a weekend, you do not get an extra weekday in lieu.

Midsummer’s Eve, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not national public holidays in Sweden, but the majority of employers treat them as such. 

In many workplaces or collective bargaining or agreements, there are additional public holiday policies. The most common include a half-day before certain public holidays (Epiphany, Walpurgis and All Saints’ Eve), or ‘bridge days’, so that if a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, the Monday before or Friday after is given as an extra day off.

Switzerland

Public holidays: Only 4 nationally and the communes with the fewest paid public holidays have only 5 in total, up to 16 regionally.

When are they? January 1st (New Year’s Day), Ascension Day (May 13th in 2021), August 1st (National Day), December 25th (Christmas Day). 

What else do you need to know? If the holiday falls on a weekend, you do not get an extra weekday in lieu.

Several public holidays are marked by a majority of regions, but not quite all: Good Friday, Easter Monday, Pentecost and All Saints’ Day.

Some other public holidays are marked by multiple regions: January 2nd (St Berchtold’s Day), January 6th (Epiphany), March 19th (St Joseph’s Day), May 1st (Labour Day), August 15th (Assumption Day), December 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception).

And some cantons have their own holidays: March 1st (Republic Day) in Neuchâtel; June 23rd (Jura Independence Day) in Jura; June 29th (Feast of St Peter and St Paul) in Graubünden and Ticino, Jeûne genevois (September 9th in 2021) in Geneva; Day After the Federal Fast (September 19th in 2021) in Vaud, September 22nd in Appenzell Innerrhoden, September 25th in Obwalden, December 24th in Glaurus and December 31st in Geneva and Glarus. 

A few local communes also have additional public holidays.

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TRAVEL

German politicians call for workers to get day off for public holidays that fall on weekends

In Germany when a public holiday falls on a weekend, the government does not allocate a day off in the week, unlike countries such as the UK and the US. Could this be about to change?

German politicians call for workers to get day off for public holidays that fall on weekends
A popular holiday spot in Germany at the coast in Boltenhagen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Photo: DPA

German politicians from various political parties are calling for public holidays that fall on a weekend to be offered to employees during the work week as a day off, in what they are calling a ‘corona bonus’.

According to a report in the Saarbrücker Zeitung on Monday, the debate started due to an unusually large number of public holidays which fall on a weekend in 2021, including Labour Day on May 1st, German Unity Day on October 3rd and the Christmas holidays.

This year both December 24th and 25th fall on the weekend.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What (and where) are Germany's public holidays in 2021?

“It would be a recognition and a simple corona bonus if the following Monday were then free for workers,” Social Democratic Parliamentary group vice chairman Dirk Wiese told the newspaper on Monday.

National leader of Left Party (die Linke), Jörg Schindler, also called for employers be obliged to offer compensation for employees the following week.

The ‘Working Hours Act’ should be amended accordingly, he said, meaning that the right to take back holidays which fall on the weekend would stretch beyond 2021. 

The labour market policy spokesperson for the Greens, Beate Müller-Gemmeke, stressed: “Holidays are days of rest for people.”

Therefore, the issue must now be debated “in a calm manner,” she said.

A previous push

The Left Party in the Bundestag had already made several attempts to introduce compensation regulations for public holidays which land over the weekend. 

In 2018, it pointed out in a motion that more than 85 countries had compensation regulations for public holidays that fell on a Sunday.

In addition to national holidays, each of Germany’s 16 states have their own holidays, with some states having several more days off per year than others.

Bavaria is the state with the most public holidays, or 13.

Late last year, The Local asked readers in Germany if public holidays which fall on weekends should be compensated the coming week. An overwhelming majority were in favour.

READ ALSO: Should Germany ensure workers get a day off for every public holiday?

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