'Bridge days': How to maximise your public holidays like a German this May

On top of the 20 days of annual leave that employees get in Germany (with many companies offering up to 30), there are nine nationwide public holidays or Feiertag.

READ ALSO: Vacation days in Germany: What to know about your rights as an employee

On top of that there are a number of regional holidays, with Bavaria getting the most. It typically has a total of 13 public holidays each year whereas Berlin has 10. 

In Germany (and many other European countries) if the holiday happens to fall on a weekday, workers get an extra day off. If, however, the event falls on a Saturday or a Sunday there is no extra day off and the holiday is 'lost'. That differs to the UK, for instance. 

Clever German workers often plan ahead, scheduling their vacations well in advance, and often in a way that maximises their days off by combining weekday holidays with their annual leave by taking Brückentage or bridge days off around the Feiertag. 

READ ALSO: Brückentage, Fenstertag or Zwickeltag: All the German words for getting longer holidays

Why is May a good month for bridge days?

Apart from spring fever kicking in and ice cream shops opening, this time of year is typically a good month for doing less work. 

Most people in Germany will get the day off on Thursday May 1st for International Workers' Day (known in Germany as Tag der Arbeit).

But you'll be glad to hear that there's more to come. 

Ascension Day (or Christi Himmelfahrt), another federal public holiday, falls on Thursday May 29th this year. This is also Fathers' Day in Germany so you can expect to see people (particularly groups of men) gathering for drinks in cities and villages around the country as is tradition. 

READ ALSO: Why Germans get drunk on Ascension Day

This is followed by Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag) which is also a public holiday, but falls as late as June 9th this year. 

However, May this year comes with a one-off special holiday for those living in Berlin -- the city will mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day (or Tag der Befreiung) with a regional public holiday on May 8th this year. This comes after International Women's Day, which is a public holiday in Berlin, fell on a weekend earlier this year.

One other note that's worth putting in your diary is that Mother's Day is celebrated in Germany on the second Sunday in May, putting it on the 11th this year (but this isn't an official public holiday).

Get your bridge days in... 

All of the public holidays in May happen to fall on a Thursday this year, so if you take the following Fridays off as bridge days you can secure a four-day holiday weekend with any or all of those holidays.

For example, if you took vacation days on May 2nd and May 30th, you'll two four day holiday blocks in May for the price of just two vacation days. Meanwhile workers in Berlin also have the option to do the same once more by taking off Friday May 9th.

READ ALSO: How employees in Germany can make the most of public holidays in 2025