National holidays

type: Article , Topic: The constitution

The Day of German Unity is the only national holiday set by federal law.

The Day of German Unity is celebrated each year on 3 October, the day on which the German Democratic Republic acceded in 1990 to the territory covered by the Basic Law. Under the Unification Treaty, it was made a national holiday and is one of the state symbols of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Before 1990, 17 June was celebrated as the Day of German Unity. It commemorated the popular uprising in the German Democratic Republic on 17 June 1953.

All other holidays are set by Germany’s federal states. The Federal Government does not have the legal authority to set national holidays. Under the federal states' legislation on Sundays and holidays, nine public holidays are observed nationwide:

  • 1 January: New Year’s holiday,
  • Good Friday,
  • Easter Monday,
  • Ascension Day,
  • Whit Monday/Pentecost Monday,
  • 1 May,
  • Day of German Unity,
  • December 25 and 26.

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