German Holidays/Celebrations Calendar

German Holiday Calendar - Part 1
January-June

Holiday Calendar: Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2
Below you’ll find Part 1 of our calendar of Austrian, German, and Swiss holidays, festivals, and observances. Dates marked with an asterisk (*) are official holidays.

January | February | March | April | May | June

January | Januar

• January 1* | New Year's Day (Neujahr) - New Year’s Eve (Silvester) is observed with fireworks!
     MORE > 'Dinner for One' - A German New Year’s Tradition (AboutGerman.net)
• January 6 | Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, Three Kings) - The arrival of the Three Wise Men is the last of the 12 days of Christmas. January 6 is a legal holiday in Austria and parts of Germany and Switzerland. Two popular customs are related to this date: Sternsinger and C+M+B house-blessing.

February | Februar

• February 2 | Candlemas (Mariä Lichtmess) | Groundhog Day - In Catholic regions. Candlemas (Lichtmess) was a legal holiday in Bavaria until 1912. The religious feast day is also known as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. Groundhog Day in the US, also on Feb. 2, is drawn from a similar German tradition, via the Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans). A Bauernregel (rural saying) goes, "Ist’s zu Lichtmess klar und hell, kommt der Frühling nicht so schnell." The British version says, "If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, winter will have another bite." In other words, if the badger (der Dachs) sees his shadow, winter will stick around a bit longer. In America the badger became a groundhog (das Murmeltier). The German title of the 1993 Groundhog Day movie with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell is Und täglich grüßt das Murmeltier ("and daily greets the groundhog").
• February 14 | Valentine's Day (Valentinstag) - In Germany Valentine's Day is not as important as it is in the USA, but it has been gaining some steam over the years. See the English-German Valentine's and Romance Glossary from our sister site AboutGerman.net.
• February | Mardi Gras (Fasching/Karneval) - In Catholic regions in February or March, depending on the date of Easter. See Carnival and Mardi Gras, German Style and Movable Feasts for more.

March | März

• March | Day of the Ill (Tag der Kranken) is observed on the first Sunday in March only in Switzerland.
• March 8 | International Women’s Day (Internationaler Frauentag) - This international "Frauenpower" observance has its roots in the U.S., but it is little known in its birthplace, probably because of its socialist/communist associations.
• March 19 | St. Joseph's Day (Josephstag) - Only observed in parts of Switzerland
• March 25 | Annunciation (Mariä Verkündigung) - Catholic feast day commemorating the announcement of the Incarnation of the Virgin Mary

April | April

• April 1 | April Fool's Day (der erste April - Narrentag) "April! April!" = "April fool!"
• April | Easter (Ostern) often falls in the month of April. See Movable Feasts for more.
• April 30 | Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht) - Celebrated with bonfires mainly in Germany, Sweden, Finnland, Estonia, and Latvia, Walpurgisnacht gets its name from Saint Walburga (or Walpurga), a woman born in what is now England in 710. Die heilige Walpurga traveled to Germany and became a nun at the convent of Heidenheim in Württemberg. Following her death in 778 or 779, she was made a saint, with May 1 as her saint day. In Germany the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, is considered the focal point of Walpurgisnacht.
     MORE > English-German Walpurgisnacht Glossary with May Day (AboutGerman.net)

May | Mai

• May 1* | May Day (der erste Mai - Tag der Arbeit) - Known in most parts of the world as Labor Day (Tag der Arbeit), this day is also related to the Maypole (der Maibaum) and the welcoming of spring, especially in Austria and Bavaria. May 1 is a legal holiday in Europe and all the German-speaking countries.
     MORE > English-German Walpurgisnacht Glossary with May Day (AboutGerman.net)
• May | Mother's Day (Muttertag) - On the second Sunday in May in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. In Germany, if Mother's Day happens to fall on Pfingstsonntag (Pentecost), the holiday is moved to the first Sunday in May.

June | Juni

• June | Father’s Day (Vatertag) - Second Sunday in June in Austria. Germany’s Vatertag (Herrentag) began in the Middle Ages as a religious procession honoring “Gott, den Vater” on Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt, usually in May). The German version is very different from the American one, being more like a guys’ day out (with drinking).
• June 24 | St. John the Baptist Day (Johannistag)
• June 27 | St. Swithin's Day (Siebenschläfer) Folklore: If it rains on this day it will rain for the next seven weeks. A Siebenschläfer is a dormouse. Similar to Groundhog Day/Candlemas on February 2.

NEXT > Holiday Calendar - Part 2 (July-December)

BACK > Holiday Calendar - Introduction

Also see Oh the many holidays in our GW Expat Blog.

More about these holidays:

• Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, Three Kings)
• German Unity Day (Oct. 3)
• Halloween in Germany
• Christmas in Germany and Austria