The director of the Berlin-Brandenburg Association of Businesses (UVB) has called for the city-state to reduce the number of public holidays (Feiertage) it recognises, or move them to a Sunday.

UVB calls for fewer public holidays in Berlin

The Berlin-Brandenburg Association of Businesses has called on the city-state government of Berlin to recognise fewer public holidays.

The capital and Hamburg are already the German federal states which have the fewest public holidays, sporting nine nationwide public holidays and one additional day each. In Berlin, this is International Women’s Day on March 8.

By comparison, Brandenburg has 11 public holidays per year and Bavaria, the federal state with the most public holidays, has 12. 

"Certainly, Berlin has fewer public holidays than other [states], but Berlin also has more debts than others," UVB director Alexander Schrip told local public broadcaster rbb, claiming that the city loses out on around 230 million euros for each day of work which is missed.

Schrip urged the city-state’s government to move more public holidays to a Sunday, but a retort from the Green Party claimed that the “structural challenges” Berlin faces would not be solved simply by cutting back public holidays.

Berliners to get an extra public holiday in 2025

Likely to Schrip's dismay, Berliners are in for an additional public holiday in 2025. The city-state will recognise May 8 as a one-off public holiday to mark 80 years since the end of Nazi rule in Germany, also known as Tag der Befreiung (Liberation Day).

May 8, 2025, is a Thursday, so it is prime territory for taking a Friday Brückentag (bridge day) on May 9 for a four-day weekend.

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