2023-12-22 12:16:37
2024 has plenty of vacation options for employees. Because building longer leisure bridges with as few vacation days as possible will be easier than it was last ten years ago.
Background: There are currently a total of 17 public holidays in Germany, nine of which are celebrated in all federal states. Of these federal holidays, four (Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Whit Monday) are always working days, hence classic “bridge pillars”. And in very good years, like 2024, this also applies to New Year’s Day, May Day, German Unity Day and the two days of Christmas.
This means that all five “moving” national holidays will also fall on a weekday next year. Not only that: seven of the eight regional holidays will also be during the week in 2024. An absolute top value!
Nationwide holidays in 2024 in Germany:
New Year: January 1st, 2024 (Monday) Good Friday: March 29th, 2024 (Friday) Easter Monday: April 1st, 2024 (Monday) May 1st – Labor Day: May 1st, 2024 (Wednesday) Ascension Day: May 9th, 2024 (Thursday) Pentecost – Whit Monday : May 20, 2024 (Monday) Day of German Unity: October 3, 2024 (Thursday) Christmas Day: December 25, 2024 (Wednesday) Boxing Day: December 26, 2024 (Thursday)
You can find an overview of the public holidays per federal state at the end of the article.
A long vacation is possible at Easter
It starts optimally with the New Year – in 2024 the first holiday of the year is a Monday. Anyone who wisely plans December 27th, 28th and 29th, 2023 as vacation days can build a mega bridge of ten days off over the turn of the year. And thus gain strength for the dry spell that will follow.
also read
Because most employees have to go through the first quarter of every year without any holidays. Exceptions are Epiphany on January 6th (it is non-working in southern Germany and Saxony-Anhalt, but falls on a Saturday in 2024) and Women’s Day (March 8th). The latter is considered a public holiday in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and will be a Friday next year, comfortably extending the weekend.
also read
But it is only with Easter that the “bridge-building year” really takes off: the date of the oldest Christian festival – it is calculated according to the so-called Gaussian Easter formula – is different every year. The earliest possible date for Good Friday is March 20th and the latest possible date is April 23rd.
also read
In 2024, Good Friday will be celebrated on March 29th. Anyone who can is well advised to have a comfortable 16th holiday together with Easter Monday (April 1st) and eight days of vacation (March 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th and April 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th). -day leisure bridge to build for a first long spring vacation.
A tip for all Brandenburg residents: Brandenburg is the only federal state to explicitly treat Easter Sunday as a public holiday; Anyone who has to work on March 31st is entitled to a replacement day of rest. The whole thing then repeats itself on Pentecost Sunday; It is also under special public holiday protection in Brandenburg; in 2024 it falls on May 19th.
Advertisement
Save on your trip with the WELT advantage: Off to vacation voucher
May offers many bridge days
May in general: From a climatic point of view, it is considered a wonderful month – and in 2024 it will be blessed with four public holidays. It starts with Labor Day (May 1st), which will be a Wednesday; With two days of vacation before (April 29th, 30th) or after (May 2nd, 3rd) this results in a five-day leisure bridge.
Then follow Ascension Day, Corpus Christi and Pentecost; They have no fixed date and are spread over May and June depending on the date of Easter. But not in 2024 – next year at three Christian high festivals in May.
It begins with Ascension Day on May 9th. Since it is always celebrated 39 days after Easter Sunday and therefore always falls on a Thursday, the following Friday results in a classic four-day bridge – as long as May 10th is declared as a holiday in time.
also read
Also popular is the bridge between Ascension Day and Whit Monday (May 20th) with twelve days off in a row – only six days of vacation are required for this; the corresponding request must cover May 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th.
We continue with Corpus Christi, a high festival celebrated on the second Thursday after Pentecost. Although Corpus Christi (May 30th) is only considered a regional holiday, it is celebrated in large parts of western Germany (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland) as well as in predominantly Catholic communities in Thuringia. Residents of these countries can easily bridge Pentecost and Corpus Christi with eight days of vacation (May 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st) and thus get 16 days off in a row.
Regional holidays in Bavaria, Saarland and Thuringia
June, July, August and September are rather poor when it comes to bridging days – with the exception of those three federal states with regional holidays: Assumption Day (August 15th), for example, is a day off from school and work in Catholic communities in Bavaria and Saarland. Since the 2024 holiday falls on a Thursday, a nine-day leisure bridge can be built with four vacation days (August 12, 13, 14, 16).
In 2019, workers in Thuringia were given World Children’s Day as a public holiday by the then red-red-green state government – good for them, because September 20th falls on a Friday in 2024 and extends the weekend.
also read
Travel psychologist in conversation
October is again blessed with two important holidays, the nationwide Day of German Unity (October 3rd) and the regional Reformation Day (October 31st); The latter is celebrated in nine of the 16 federal states (specifically in East Germany as well as in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen). And since next year both October 3rd and October 31st fall on a Thursday, a vacation day taken on Friday (October 4th, November 1st) plus the weekend will add up to four days off each.
The days off are ideal at Christmas
In November, All Saints’ Day (November 1st) gives employees in five federal states (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland) a long weekend because the Catholic high festival falls on a Friday.
November is also interesting for the Saxons; They have a strong “bridge pillar” with the day of repentance and prayer – every year. The regional holiday is always celebrated on the Wednesday before Eternal Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year; In 2024 it will be November 20th. If you want to take a break of at least five days, you have to do it on November 18th and 19th. or November 21st and 22nd. take vacation. If you submit all four days as vacation, you get nine days of undisturbed leisure fun.
also read
At Christmas, all Germans will have the opportunity to take a break again: next year, the two nationwide non-working holidays will ideally fall on Wednesday and Thursday. That’s why you should plan now on December 23rd, 24th, 27th, 30th and 31st. as vacation days, together with Christmas and New Year’s Day this results in a twelve-day vacation over the turn of the year.
If there are still two days of vacation left for January 2nd and 3rd, 2025, you can even take a 16-day long-distance trip – and that with just seven days of vacation.
Regional holidays 2024 by federal state:
Baden-Württemberg
Three Kings: January 6th, 2024 (Saturday) Corpus Christi: May 30th, 2024 (Thursday) All Saints Day: November 1st, 2024 (Friday)
Bayern
Three Kings: January 6th, 2024 (Saturday) Corpus Christi: May 30th, 2024 (Thursday) Assumption of Mary: August 15th, 2024 (Thursday) All Saints Day: November 1st, 2024 (Friday)
Berlin
Women’s Day: March 8, 2024 (Friday)
Brandenburg
Easter Sunday: March 31, 2024 (Sunday) Pentecost Sunday: May 19, 2024 (Sunday) Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)
Bremen
Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)
Hamburg
Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)
Hesse
Corpus Christi: May 30, 2024 (Thursday)
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)
Lower Saxony
Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)
North Rhine-Westphalia
Corpus Christi: May 30, 2024 (Thursday) All Saints Day: November 1, 2024 (Friday)
Rhineland-Palatinate
Corpus Christi: May 30, 2024 (Thursday) All Saints Day: November 1, 2024 (Friday)
Saarland
Corpus Christi: May 30, 2024 (Thursday) Assumption Day: August 15, 2024 (Thursday) All Saints Day: November 1, 2024 (Friday)
Saxony
Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday) Penance and Prayer Day: November 20, 2024 (Wednesday)
Saxony-Anhalt
Three Kings: January 6th, 2024 (Saturday) Reformation Day: October 31st, 2024 (Thursday)
Schleswig-Holstein
Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)
Thuringia
World Children’s Day: September 20, 2024 (Friday) Reformation Day: October 31, 2024 (Thursday) “The whole life is planned here using bridging days”
Denmark has decided to take away a public holiday from its citizens in order to increase military spending. Henryk M. Broder attests that the Danes have a great sense of humor. “There would already be a handful of Leopard tanks for Ukraine,” he calculated.
Source: WELT/Henryk M. Broder
#Bridge #days #great #year #employees #vacation