Are some religious holidays canceled?
The statements made by the Bavarian Economic Association (Vereinigung der Bayerischen Wirtschaft - vbw) have sparked widespread controversy after calling for the cancellation of some official religious holidays in Germany, claiming it would boost the struggling economy.
The president of the federation, Wolfram Hatz, said in statements to the newspaper "Bild": "We need more work and fewer holidays." The federation's executive director, Bertram Brusat, expressed his astonishment at the number of holidays in Germany, saying: "Our colleagues in France and Italy are amazed when they learn that we have a holiday on the Monday after Easter, the Monday after Pentecost, and the second day of Christmas." He added that canceling one of these holidays would not impose a significant burden on employees, but it would have a very positive impact on the economy.
The union points out that Germany is one of the countries that grants the most official holidays in Europe, based on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2023, which shows that the German worker worked an average of 1,343 hours during the year, which is 92 hours less than the Austrian, 186 hours less than the Swiss, and 391 hours less than the Italian.
Brosart believes that "the Monday after Pentecost" is the most suitable for cancellation, but he emphasized that implementing this decision requires the approval of all German states. In contrast, the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, expressed his rejection of any reduction in the number of public holidays.
According to the German Trade Union Confederation, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Berlin, and Hesse have the fewest public holidays, with only ten days, while the states of Saarland, Baden-Württemberg, and Bavaria have a higher number reaching twelve days, and some areas of Bavaria have up to 14 public holidays annually.