German Holiday Calendar - Part 2
(January-June)
Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market (2007). PHOTO © Hyde Flippo
Holiday Calendar: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Below you’ll find Part 2 of our calendar of Austrian, German, and Swiss holidays, festivals, and observances. Dates marked with an asterisk (*) are official holidays.
January | Januar
- January 1* | New Year's Day (Neujahr) - New Year’s Eve (Silvester) is observed with fireworks!
WEB > Dinner for One - A German New Year’s Tradition (About.com) - January 6 | Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, Three Kings) - The arrival of the Three Wise Men is the last of the 12 days of Christmas.
February | Februar
- February 2 | Candlemas (Mariä Lichtmess) - In Catholic regions. Groundhog Day in the U.S.
- February 14 | Valentine's Day (Valentinstag)
- February | Mardi Gras (Fasching/Karneval) - In Catholic regions in Feb. or Mar., depending on the date of Easter. See 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 | 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.
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 | 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.
NEXT > Holiday Calendar - Part 3 (July-December)
BACK > Holiday Calendar - Part 1
MORE > Halloween
MORE > Christmas in Germany
