Every country in the world has different holidays (Feiertage) and it is not any different in Germany. Germany has 16 federal states and some of them have more holidays than the others. When you just moved there and don’t speak the language yet it can be difficult to figure out when those holidays are. That can be tough, especially when you want to go shopping and the stores are closed. For example, on Christmas, most stores are already closed on December 24th around 2 p.m and all stores are completely closed on the 25th and 26th. On Sundays in Germany you can go to restaurants or Cafe’s but cannot go shopping. About every 2-3 months there is a “Verkaufsoffener Sonntag”, a Sunday where most shops are open between 1- 6 p.m. Normally you can read about them in the local newspapers or on signs around the city/town where you live. You can also visit verkaufsoffene-sonntage.com and let google do the translating.
To make your life a bit easier we put a list together with all the Germany wide holidays for 2016.
January
1.1.2016 Newywear – all states
06.01.2016 Heilige 3 Könige – Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Sachsen-Anhalt
March
25.03.2016 Karfreitag – all states
27.03.2016 Easter Sunday and 28.03.2016 Easter Monday – all states
May
01.05.2016 Tag der Arbeit – all states
05.05.2016 Christi Himmelfahrt – all states
15.05.2016 Pfingstsonntag and 16.06.2016 Pfingstmontag – all states
26.05.2016 Fronleichnam – Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland
August
15.08.2016 Maria Himmelfahrt – Bavaria,Saarland
October
3.10.2016 Tag der Deutschen Einheit – all states
31.10.2016 Reformationstag – Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen
November
01.11.2016 Allerheiligen -Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfaly, Saarland
16.11.2016 Buß-und Bettag – Sachsen
December
25.12.2016 and 26.12.2016 Christmas – all states
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