On this page you’ll find the dates for Public Holidays and Bank Holidays in Berlin and Brandenburg. For other states the dates may vary.
Public Holidays / Bank Holidays 2024
| Monday 1 January 2024 | New Year's Day |
| Friday, 08 March 2024 | International Women's Day / Internationaler Frauentag*** |
| Friday, 29 March 2024 | Good Friday |
| Monday, 1 April 2024 | Easter Monday |
| Wednsday, 01 May 2024 | May Day / Labour Day / 1st of May |
| Thursday, 09 May 2024 | Feast of the Ascension / Father’s Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) |
| Monday, 20 June 2024 | Whit Monday / Pentecost Monday (Pfingstmontag) |
| Thursday 03 October 2024 | German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) |
| Thursday, 31 October 2024 | Reformation Day * |
| Wednesday, 20 November 2024 | Day of Prayer and Repentance / Buß- und Bettag **** |
| Tuesday, 24 December 2024 | Christmas Eve ** |
| Wednesday 25 December 2024 | 1st Christmas Day / Boxing Day |
| thursday, 26 December 2024 | 2nd Christmas Day / Boxing Day |
| Tuesday 31 December 2024 | New Year’s Eve ** |
Public Holidays / Bank Holidays 2025
| Wednesday 1 January 2025 | New Year's Day |
| Saturday, 8 March 2025 | International Women's Day / Internationaler Frauentag*** |
| Friday, 18 April 2025 | Good Friday |
| Monday, 21 April 2025 | Easter Monday |
| Thursday, 01 May 2025 | May Day / Labour Day / 1st of May |
| Thursday, 29 May 2025 | Feast of the Ascension / Father’s Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) |
| Monday, 9 June 2025 | Whit Monday / Pentecost Monday (Pfingstmontag) |
| Friday, 3 October 2025 | German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) |
| Friday, 31 October 2025 | Reformation Day * |
| Wednesday, 19 November 2025 | Day of Prayer and Repentance / Buß- und Bettag **** |
| Wednesday, 24 December 2025 | Christmas Eve ** |
| Thursday, 25 December 2025 | 1st Christmas Day / Boxing Day |
| Friday, 26 December 2025 | 2nd Christmas Day / Boxing Day |
| Wednesday, 31 December 2025 | New Year’s Eve ** |
* only in Brandenburg / Potsdam – but not in Berlin
** only second half of the day is public holiday
*** only in Berlin
**** neither in Berlin nor in Brandenburg
local differences
As you might know already, Germany is a Federal Republic, consisting of 16 more or less independent states: Berlin, Brandenburg, Bavaria etc. – I guess you get the picture. And every state has or can have basically it’s own calendar of Public Holidays / Bank Holidays.
Although most of the dates, especially the Christian holidays are the same, some others may vary, depending on the local laws and regulations of the particular state. While the north and central regions of Germany are mostly Protestant, the south regions are mostly Catholic.
On this page I only list the dates for Public Holidays and Bank Holidays in Berlin. For Brandenburg and other states the dates may be handled differently.
Details
Good Friday
German: “Karfreitag”
The Friday before Easter all shops are closed. Only at airports and in train stations you may find shops that are open – and some kiosks and late shops may be open too. But you better do you your grocery shopping already a couple of days in advance. My personal recommendation at least on Wednesday, latest on Thursday before Easter you should have some food stocked for the weekend. Easter Saturday is however a regular Saturday so you could get buy groceries – theoretically. But my experience is that the Easter Saturday shopping experience is not a good one.
Easter Monday
German: “Ostermontag”
The Monday after Easter also all shops are closed – basically the same situation as on Good Friday. Easter Monday feels like another Sunday.
First of May / International Workers’ Day
German: “Tag der Arbeit” / “Erster Mai”
All shops are closed, all restaurants and bars open – feels like a regular Sunday*. There are however traditionally various different demonstrations across the city. Walking around some areas in Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and/or Mitte can be a bit ‘adventurous’ since every now and then there have been clashes / riots.
Feast of the Ascension / Father’s Day
(approximately 40 days after Easter)
German: Vatertag / Himmelfahrt
Shops are closed, restaurants open – feels like a Sunday.
Pentecost / “Whit Sunday” / Pfingsten
Pfingstsonntag Sunday “Whit Sunday” Sunday, approximately 49 days after Easter Sunday
Pfingstmontag / Monday “Whit Monday”
All shops are closed except for some shops at airports, in train stations, some kiosks and late shops. Restaurants are open – feels like another Sunday.
German Unity Day / Tag der Deutschen Einheit
On German Unity Day (“Tag der Deutschen Einheit”) basically all shops are closed. Bars, restaurants and café are however open. At airports and in train stations you may find shops that are actually open – and some kiosks and late shops may be open too.
Reformation Day / Reformationstag
In the Berlin surrounding state Brandenburg the Reformation Day (“Reformationstag”) is actually a Public Holiday – and most if not all shops are closed. In Berlin however Reformation Day is usually not a Public Holiday – but in 2017 on Reformation Day it actually was, because it’s the 500th anniversary of Luther putting up his thesis papers on the door of the Wittenberg Church.
All Saints / Allerheiligen
In Berlin All Saints (“Allerheiligen”) is not a Public Holiday in Berlin. It is however a Public Holiday in five other states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria (Bayern), North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and Saarland. So chances are you may find quite a number of German short-trip visitors on All Saints in Berlin.
Day of Prayer and Repentance / Buß- und Bettag
The Day of Prayer and Repentance (“Buß- und Bettag”) is not a Public Holiday in Berlin – actually only in Saxony (Sachsen) the Day of Prayer and Repentance is a Public Holiday. In all other German States it’s a regular day – so shops and restaurants etc. are open.
New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day (Silvester / Neujahrstag)
The last day of the year is half a public holiday. Shops are usually open until some time in the afternoon. Check the opening times early, in case you need to buy something on New Year’s Eve. Also don’t expect to be the only one who needs to get some last minute shopping done. The first day of the year is an off day – Public Holiday – shops are closed. And some restaurants and bars may also be closed – others may be open. But who wants to walk the Berlin streets on New Year’s Day anyways? Well – maybe I should give it a try someday…
General note on Public Holidays in Germany
These above listed Public Holidays are valid in Berlin. Depending on local laws and regulations other regions and states such as Bavaria and Saxony may have different or even more off-days. You can find a complete list of Public holidays in Germany over here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Germany
Do you have and thoughts, suggestions, additional recommendations or comments? Please feel free to leave your comment below. Thank you!
Hi,
I was just looking at your page : https://www.nuberlin.com/info/public-holidays/
There is an error in the bank holiday calender here:
Thursday, 18 May 2024 Feast of the Ascension / Father’s Day (Christi Himmelfahrt)
May 18, 2024 is on Saturday not Thursday. And i believe this year it´s 20th of May – monday.
Dear Fanny,
thank you for pointing that out! I just checked again – and yes, the date was wrong – but this year Feast of the Ascension / Father’s Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) seems to be on Thursday, 09 May 2024. Cheers! ±