Leave planner 2026: an overview of the year
2026 has 261 weekdays from Monday to Friday. After public holidays, 252 to 254 working days remain, depending on the German state. This page lists the holidays that apply everywhere, the bridge days worth taking nationwide, and all 16 states side by side.
Nationwide public holidays 2026
These 9 holidays apply in all 16 German states. Depending on the state, more are added, up to 13 in total.
| Holiday | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Neujahr (New Year’s Day) | 1 January 2026 | Thursday |
| Karfreitag (Good Friday) | 3 April 2026 | Friday |
| Ostermontag (Easter Monday) | 6 April 2026 | Monday |
| Tag der Arbeit (Labour Day) | 1 May 2026 | Friday |
| Christi Himmelfahrt (Ascension Day) | 14 May 2026 | Thursday |
| Pfingstmontag (Whit Monday) | 25 May 2026 | Monday |
| Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day) | 3 October 2026 | Saturday |
| 1. Weihnachtstag (Christmas Day) | 25 December 2026 | Friday |
| 2. Weihnachtstag (Second Day of Christmas) | 26 December 2026 | Saturday |
All public holidays 2026 in Germany, including regional ones →
The best bridge days in 2026
Worked out nationwide, so only with holidays that apply everywhere. Depending on the state, 2026 adds stretches around these state holidays: Heilige Drei Könige (Epiphany), Fronleichnam (Corpus Christi) and Buß- und Bettag (Day of Repentance and Prayer). The state pages show which.
4 days off for 1
Thu 01/01 to Sun 04/01
Neujahr (New Year’s Day)
Book these days: 02/01
4 days off for 1
Thu 14/05 to Sun 17/05
Christi Himmelfahrt (Ascension Day)
Book these days: 15/05
10 days off for 4
Sat 28/03 to Mon 06/04
Karfreitag (Good Friday) · Ostermontag (Easter Monday)
Book these days: 30/03, 31/03, 01/04, 02/04
Public holidays and working days 2026 by state
If your people work in several states, you plan with several calendars. In 2026 the gap between the state with the most and the fewest working days is 2 days.
| State | Holidays | on Mon–Fri | Working days | Summer holidays | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | 12 | 9 | 252 | 30/07 – 12/09 · 32 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Bavaria | 13 | 9 | 252 | 03/08 – 14/09 · 31 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Berlin | 10 | 7 | 254 | 09/07 – 22/08 · 32 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Brandenburg | 12 | 7 | 254 | 09/07 – 22/08 · 32 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Bremen | 10 | 7 | 254 | 02/07 – 12/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Hamburg | 10 | 7 | 254 | 09/07 – 19/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Hesse | 10 | 8 | 253 | 29/06 – 07/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 11 | 7 | 254 | 13/07 – 22/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Lower Saxony | 10 | 7 | 254 | 02/07 – 12/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 11 | 8 | 253 | 20/07 – 01/09 · 32 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 11 | 8 | 253 | 29/06 – 07/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Saarland | 12 | 8 | 253 | 29/06 – 07/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Saxony | 11 | 8 | 253 | 04/07 – 14/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 11 | 8 | 253 | 04/07 – 14/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 10 | 7 | 254 | 04/07 – 15/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
| Thuringia | 11 | 7 | 254 | 04/07 – 14/08 · 30 days of leave | Holidays Bridge days School holidays |
Working days: Monday to Friday minus public holidays falling on a weekday, for a five-day week. Bavaria includes Assumption Day, which only applies in predominantly Catholic municipalities there. Corpus Christi in individual municipalities of Saxony and Thuringia is not counted.
Days of leave: what a parent on a five-day week would have to book to be off for the whole summer holidays.
School holiday dates: OpenHolidaysAPI , published under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0) . The announcement of the responsible ministry remains authoritative.
How a team plans 2026 in Tiveo
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Carry over remaining leave from 2025
Remaining days move into the new year by themselves, with no year-end closing. Before they expire, for example on 31 March, Tiveo can email a reminder to everyone with their own account and records when it was sent. Without a timely reminder, leave does not expire (CJEU C-684/16).
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Set the state for each person
Then each person’s calendar shows the right holidays for 2026: 13 public holidays in Bavaria, 10 in Berlin. Part-time and half days are counted with every request.
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Let people request early
While a request is filled in, the dialog counts the working days and names the public holidays in the period, which cost no leave. Whoever approves sees in the team calendar who is already away in the same period, so it shows early when half the team wants May off.
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Keep the overview and export it
The 2026 team calendar shows every absence together with public and school holidays, as a print-ready PDF for the wall or as a CSV file for Excel.