Statutory Holidays in NRW
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Photo: greg |
In Germany, there are two kinds of statutory holidays: religious and political. The best examples for political holidays are Labour Day and Unification Day. In NRW 1 May is officially called "day of the confession of freedom and peace, social justice, national reconciliation and human dignity".
Since 1990 the 3 October is celebrated as Day of German Unification because this was the year when the reunion of East and West Germany became effective after 40 years of separation throughout the Cold War.
Considering religious holidays it is remarkable that important Protestant as well as Catholic days are equally represented. Protestant and Catholics form the two major religions both in NRW and in entire Germany. The Christian belief stamped most holidays, like Easter, All Saint’s or Christmas for example. Other festivities have more pagan or rural origins.
The year offers many possibilities for enjoying a good time with a celebration. These festivities are born of traditions and local customs. Dates in 2011:
01.01 - New Year "Neujahr"
07.03 - Carneval "Rosenmontag"
22.04 - Good Friday "Karfreitag"
25.04 - Easter Monday "Ostermontag"
01.05 - Labour Day "Maifeiertag"
02.06 - Ascension Day "Christi Himmelfahrt"
13.06 - Whit Monday "Pfingstmontag"
23.06 - Corpus Christi "Fronleichnam"
03.10 - Day of German Unification "Tag der deutschen Einheit"
01.11 - All Saint's Day "Allerheiligen"
25.12 - Christmas Day "1. Weihnachtsfeiertag"
26.12 - Boxing Day "2. Weihnachtsfeiertag"
Link: Holidays...
