Reformation Day

Reformation Day (Reformationstag) on 31 October is a traditional regional statutory public holiday celebrated in 9 German federal states. Commemorating the start of the Reformation by Martin Luther in 1517, it kicks off the autumn holiday double-header before All Saints' Day.

Culturally, Protestant churches celebrate the day with services and Reformation music. Many bakeries also offer traditional Luther pastries shaped around the Luther rose.

Public holiday in several northern and eastern states. The decisive place is not always the home address: workplace, school location and travel destination can each change the answer.

Read Reformation Day with All Saints' Day, autumn school breaks and the relevant state. The planner shows whether the neighbouring workdays create a useful block. That check should happen before booking travel, moving meetings or assuming that school and work calendars line up.

If 31 October sits close to the weekend, All Saints' Day can extend the autumn block. Commuters still need to check the state of workplace and home separately.

For project managers, this holiday double-header (31 October and 1 November) represents a logistical challenge. Marking regional absences precisely in the shared calendar prevents conflicts regarding deadlines.

Use our bridge-day calculator and export the Reformation Day dates via ICS or CSV to represent your autumn holiday planning correctly in your calendar system.

For regional holidays, choose the correct state before comparing leave days. Keep Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thüringen separate from places where the same date remains a working day.

31 October is a statutory public holiday in Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. In these 9 states, offices, schools, and shops are closed.

In Nord- und Ostdeutschland ist der Tag arbeitsfrei, was kreative Brückentage mit Allerheiligen ermöglicht.

Eine Reise über die Bundeslandgrenze hinweg lohnt sich, wenn Nachbarländer keinen Feiertag haben.

For the legal baseline, Reformation Day has to be separated from the surrounding workdays. Public holiday in several northern and eastern states. The neighbouring days can still require leave, flexitime or a school-specific rule.

For Reformation Day, section 9 of the Working Time Act explains Sunday and public-holiday rest, while section 2 of the Continued Remuneration Act belongs to pay on statutory public holidays. Neither replaces the local rota, collective agreement, school notice or state-specific holiday status.

A calendar entry should therefore show the statutory holiday and any chosen leave days as separate decisions.