Autumn holidays in Germany in September, October, and November
German holidays in autumn: state, folk, religious holidays with celebration dates by years 2023, 2024, 2025.
Many holidays in Germany have sliding dates that change every year, so the exact dates need to be checked separately for each year. In the following tables, you will find dates and a brief description for each celebration. State holidays in Germany, the schedule of school vacations in Germany can be found on separate pages of our website.
List of holidays
Autumn holidays in Germany in September 2024
| Date | The name of the holiday | Name in German |
|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2024 (Su) | Nativity of the Blessed Virgin | Mariä Geburt |
| A Catholic feast on the occasion of the birth of Mary, mother of Christ. In some churches in the days to follow evening pilgrimage processions with lanterns take place. | ||
| 20 September 2024 (Fr) | Universal Children's Day | Weltkindertag |
| The UN Children's Day, proposed to improve the rights and situation of children in the world. In Germany, it is held annually on September 20. On this day, festivities are organized for children. Lectures on the problems of children in the world are held in schools that day, schoolchildren collect money for poor kids, write notes with wishes. | ||
| 21 September 2024 (Sa) | Oktoberfest, opening | Oktoberfest, 1. Tag |
| The largest festival in the world, public festivities, which is held in Munich (Bavaria) and lasts for 2 weeks or more. At the festival, a huge amount of specially-brewed beer is drunk. | ||
| 29 September 2024 (Su) | Saint Michael the Archangel Feast Day | Michaelistag |
| A church holiday in honor of Saint Michael the Archangel. On this day, special Saint Mikhail bread is traditionally baked. | ||
Autumn holidays in Germany in October 2024
| Date | The name of the holiday | Name in German |
|---|---|---|
| 3 October 2024 (Th) | German Unity Day | Tag der Deutschen Einheit |
| The German Unity Day is celebrated in connection with the unification of East and West Germany in 1990. | ||
| 6 October 2024 (Su) | Harvest Feast | Erntedankfest |
| A thanksgiving for the harvest. Church services, distribution of fruits and vegetables are held. Peasants enjoy merry celebrations with dances and songs, processions with decorations from cereals, fruits and vegetables. Girls wear crowns or wreaths of pieces of wheat. Separately, on different days, a holiday is organized for harvesting potatoes (Kartoffelfest). Fairs, concerts, and festivities are held with visitors treating themselves to various potato dishes. | ||
| 31 October 2024 (Th) | Reformation Day | Reformationstag |
| The anniversary of the European church reformation beginning, the day when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses criticizing Catholicism to the door of the church in Wittenberg. | ||
| 31 October 2024 (Th) | Hallowe'en | Halloween |
| An ancient Celtic holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 to November 1. The traditions of the holiday are associated with the belief in spirits. For the holiday, pumpkin lanterns are made, people dress up in monster costumes. Children dress up in costumes and go from house to house, begging for sweets. | ||
Autumn holidays in Germany in November 2024
| Date | The name of the holiday | Name in German |
|---|---|---|
| 1 November 2024 (Fr) | All Saints' Day | Allerheiligen |
| A memorial day for all saints, the performance of rites associated with the veneration of the dead | ||
| 2 November 2024 (Sa) | Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed Day | Allerseelen |
| The day of remembrance of relatives and friends, the performance of rites is associated with the veneration of the dead | ||
| 11 November 2024 (Mo) | Carnival | Fasching |
| The beginning of the Carnival season, the so-called "fifth time of the year" in Germany, which lasts about 3 months, until Great Lent. The main celebration falls on the last week of the Carnival period. | ||
| 11 November 2024 (Mo) | St. Martin's Day | Martinstag |
| The Memorial Day of St. Martin. The traditions of the celebration include: processions in the streets with lanterns in the shape of a pumpkin or with pumpkins with candles inside. The festive dinner includes baked goose and the traditional sweet "Martinshörnchen", a pastry shaped in the form of a croissant, which recalls both the hooves of St. Martin's horse and, by being the half of a pretzel, the parting of his mantle. | ||
| 17 November 2024 (Su) | People's Day of Mourning | Volkstrauertag |
| Germany has a national day of remembrance for those who died/ were killed in wars and victims of violence. It is observed on the second Sunday before the 1st Advent. | ||
| 20 November 2024 (We) | Day of Prayer and Repentance | Buß- und Bettag |
| The day celebrated by believers of the evangelical church as a special day for repentance of sins and prayers for the forgiveness of sins. | ||
| 24 November 2024 (Su) | Remembrance Sunday | Totensonntag |
| The Memorial Day, which is observed in the Evangelical Church. On this day, believers go to cemeteries, clean the graves, put flowers on the graves, light candles. | ||
| 29 November 2024 (Fr) | Black Friday | Black Friday |
| Black Friday (in German: Schwarzer Freitag) is the beginning of the Christmas season of sales before Christmas. In Germany on this day many companies offer big discounts to their customers, both in online stores and in branch stores. It originally comes from the United States, where Black Friday comes right after Thanksgiving. Why is Black Friday? The modern meaning is that traders sell so much that day that they get out of lossmaking (red balance) to profit making (operating in the black). It is believed that the original "black" name was given to this Friday by the police officers, because due to the launch of sales there appeared too many people and traffic jams on the roads, so it was an evil, black day for them. | ||
Explanation of the table:
- German public holiday, which is an additional day off.
- A public holiday, which is an additional day off in some German lands (see the table of German public holidays).
- Religious holidays that are not particularly popular in Germany are highlighted in gray.
Holidays in winter, Holidays in spring, Holidays in summer
RU-GELD.DE Team
Last updated:
Autumn holidays in Germany in September, October, and November 2023, 2024, 2025
