Public holidays in Berlin 2026 and 2027, shop closures and school holidays

• Thursday 1 January: New Year's Day (Neujahr)
• Sunday 8 March: International Women's Day (Internationaler Frauentag)
• Friday 3 April: Good Friday (Karfreitag)
• Monday 6 April: Easter Monday (Ostermontag)
• Friday 1 May: Labour Day (Tag der Arbeit)
• Thursday 14 May: Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt)
• Monday 25 May: Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag)
• Saturday 3 October: Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit)
• Friday 25 December: Christmas Day (1. Weihnachtsfeiertag)
• Saturday 26 December: Second Day of Christmas (2. Weihnachtsfeiertag)

• Friday 1 January: New Year's Day
• Monday 8 March: International Women's Day
• Friday 26 March: Good Friday
• Monday 29 March: Easter Monday
• Saturday 1 May: Labour Day
• Thursday 6 May: Ascension Day
• Monday 17 May: Whit Monday
• Sunday 3 October: Day of German Unity
• Saturday 25 December: Christmas Day
• Sunday 26 December: Second Day of Christmas

Looking further ahead: 17 June 2028 will be a one-off additional public holiday in Berlin.

• 24 December (Christmas Eve) and 31 December (New Year's Eve) are not public holidays; whether you work depends on your contract and employer. Shops in Berlin must close by 14:00 on 24 December when it falls on a weekday.
• Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are Sundays anyway, with the same Sunday closures.
• Volkstrauertag (national day of mourning) and Totensonntag (Sunday of the dead), two Sundays in November, have special protection: no exceptions to Sunday shop closing are allowed on them.

Berlin shops may open around the clock from Monday to Saturday, but on Sundays and public holidays they must generally stay closed. Plan your weekly shop accordingly, especially before long weekends such as Easter, Whitsun and Christmas.

Exceptions under Berlin's shop opening law (2026):

• Petrol stations, pharmacies, and shops in railway stations, airports and bus terminals may open; they are often the only places to buy groceries on Sundays and holidays.
• Bakeries, florists, newspaper sellers and dairy shops may sell their goods from 7:00 to 16:00.
• Shops for tourist needs (for example postcards, maps, guidebooks, tobacco and food for immediate consumption) may open from 13:00 to 20:00.
• Open Sundays (verkaufsoffene Sonntage): the Senate can allow general shop opening on up to eight Sundays or holidays a year, from 13:00 to 20:00, and shops can add up to two more for special events. For 2026 the Berlin Chamber of Commerce lists 25 January, 21 June, 6 December and 20 December as general open Sundays.

No exceptions are possible on New Year's Day, 1 May, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday, Volkstrauertag, Totensonntag, the Christmas holidays, or 24 December when it falls on a Sunday of Advent.

• Time off. Employees may in principle not be employed on Sundays and public holidays from 0:00 to 24:00. The law allows exceptions for many kinds of work; employees who do work on these days must get a substitute rest day, within two weeks for Sunday work and within eight weeks for work on a public holiday that falls on a weekday. At least 15 Sundays a year must stay work-free.
• Pay. If your working time is lost because of a public holiday, your employer pays you as if you had worked. If you are absent without excuse on the last working day before or the first working day after a holiday, you lose the holiday pay.
• Weekend holidays. The pay rule covers working time lost because of the holiday. If a holiday falls on a day you would not have worked anyway, such as a Saturday or Sunday for most office jobs, there is nothing to replace. Some employment contracts and collective agreements are more generous; check yours.
• If you commute to another state. Holiday lists differ between federal states, including between Berlin and Brandenburg. If your workplace is outside Berlin, check which holidays apply there.

School holidays (Schulferien) are set by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family and published on its holiday dates page, including the full Berlin holiday order up to 2029/2030. For the school year 2026/2027:

• Autumn: 19 to 31 October 2026
• Christmas: 23 December 2026 to 2 January 2027
• Winter: 1 to 6 February 2027
• Easter: 22 March to 2 April 2027
• Whitsun: 18 and 19 May 2027
• Summer: 1 July to 14 August 2027

There are also some extra school-free days, and pupils can be excused from lessons for important religious holidays of their faith on application. International schools such as the John F. Kennedy School and the French Gymnasium have their own holiday orders.

Buses and trains run on public holidays. If you hold a VBB-Umweltkarte, its take-along rule applies all day on public holidays as well as on 24 and 31 December; where Berlin and Brandenburg have different holidays, it only applies in the state where the holiday is observed. Offices such as Bürgerämter are closed. For medical problems outside surgery hours, see the guide to finding a doctor; for emergencies, call 112.