2023-08-18 07:26:11
2024 has a lot of holiday opportunities for employees. Because building longer leisure bridges with as few vacation days as possible is now as easy as it was ten years ago.
Background: There are currently 17 public holidays in Germany, nine of which are celebrated in all federal states. Four of these federal holidays (Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Whit Monday) are always working days, ergo 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 “movable” national holidays will also fall on a weekday in the coming year. Not only that: In 2024, seven of the eight regional public holidays will also fall within the week. An absolute top value!
A long holiday is possible at Easter
It starts optimally with the New Year – in 2024 the first public holiday of the year is a Monday. In this way, those who plan 27, 28 and 29.12.2023 as vacation days with prudent foresight can build a mega bridge of ten days off over the turn of the year. And in this way draw strength for the dry spell that is to come.
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Because most employees have to get through the first quarter of each year without any public holidays. Exceptions are Epiphany on January 6 (it is a day off in southern Germany and Saxony-Anhalt, but falls on a Saturday in 2024) and Women’s Day (March 8). The latter is considered a public holiday in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and will be a Friday next year, thus comfortably extending the weekend.
However, the “bridge-builders’ year” only really picks up speed with Easter: 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.
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In 2024, Good Friday will be celebrated on March 29th. Those who can are well advised to take a comfortable 16 -day leisure bridge to build for a first long spring vacation.
A tip for all Brandenburgers: Brandenburg is the only federal state to explicitly treat Easter Sunday as a public holiday; So if you have to work on March 31st, you are entitled to a replacement day off. The whole thing is then repeated on Pentecost Sunday; it is also under special public holiday protection in Brandenburg, in 2024 it falls on May 19th.
May offers many bridging days
May in general: From a climatic point of view, it is considered a merry month – and in 2024 it is blessed with four public holidays. It starts with Labor Day (May 1), which will be a Wednesday; with two vacation days 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 do not have a fixed date and are spread over May and June depending on the date of Easter. But not in 2024 – in the coming 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, there is a classic four-day bridge with the following Friday – provided May 10th is submitted in time as a holiday.
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Also popular is the bridging of Ascension Day to Whit Monday (May 20) with twelve days off in a row – only six vacation days are required for this; the corresponding application must cover the 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th of May.
It continues with Corpus Christi, a high festival that is celebrated on the second Thursday after Pentecost. Corpus Christi (30 May) is only a regional holiday, but it is celebrated in large parts of western Germany (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland) and in Catholic communities in Thuringia. Residents of these countries can easily bridge Pentecost and Corpus Christi with eight vacation days (21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st May) and thus have 16 days off in a row.
Regional public holidays in Bavaria, Saarland and Thuringia
June, July, August and September are rather meager when it comes to bridging days – with the exception of those three federal states with regional holidays: Assumption Day (August 15), for example, is school and work-free in the Catholic communities of Bavaria and Saarland. Since the public holiday in 2024 falls on a Thursday, a nine-day leisure bridge can be built with four vacation days (12, 13, 14, 16 August).
In 2019, employees in Thuringia were given World Children’s Day as a public holiday by the then red-red-green state government – nice for them, because September 20, 2024 falls on a Friday and extends the weekend.
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Travel psychologist in conversation
October is then again blessed with two important public holidays, the nationwide Day of German Unity (October 3) and the regional Reformation Day (October 31); the latter is committed in nine of the 16 federal states (specifically in eastern Germany as well as in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen). And since both October 3rd and October 31st fall on a Thursday next year, a vacation day taken on a Friday (October 4th, November 1st) and the weekend add up to four days off each.
At Christmas, the days off are ideal
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, as the Catholic high festival falls on a Friday.
November is also interesting for the Saxons; With the Day of Repentance and Prayer they have a strong “bridge pillar” – every year. Because the regional holiday is always celebrated on the Wednesday before Eternal Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year; In 2024 it is November 20th. If you want to take a break of at least five days, you have to book November 18th and 19th. or 21. and 22.11. take vacation If you submit every four days as a vacation, you get nine days of undisturbed leisure fun.
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At Christmas, all Germans will have the opportunity to take a break again: next year, the two nationwide public holidays ideally fall on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Therefore, you should already look forward to the 23rd, 24th, 27th, 30th and 31st of December. 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 vacation days left for January 2nd and 3rd, 2025, a 16-day long-distance trip is even possible – and that with only seven vacation days.
“The whole life is planned here based on bridge days”
Denmark has decided to take a public holiday away from its citizens in order to finance higher military spending. Henryk M. Broder attests that the Danes have a great sense of humor. “A handful of Leopard tanks for the Ukraine would be in there,” he calculated.
Source: WELT/ Henryk M. Broder
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