Public Holidays in Germany 2026 + Free Staff Planning Template

Complete list of official public holidays and free downloadable staff planning templates

Official Public Holidays

3 holidays in Germany for 2026

Holiday	Date	Day	Applies To
New Year's Day New Year's Day, which is on January 1, or the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, is...	January 01	Thursday	Nationwide
May Day May Day in Germany is a holiday to celebrate the start of spring and to campaign for workers' rig...	May 01	Friday	Nationwide
Day of German Unity German Unity Day celebrates Germany's unification in 1990. It is on October 3 each year.	October 03	Saturday	Nationwide

Legal Notice: This information is for guidance only and should not be considered legal advice. Always validate with local authorities or legal practitioners in Germany.

📅 Free Staff Holiday Planning Templates

Download our ready-to-use templates to plan your team's time off around Germany's public holidays

Google Sheets Template Excel Template

Perfect for HR managers, team leads, and small business owners planning staff coverage around public holidays

Managing staff leave around these holidays?

Stop juggling spreadsheets and manual processes. Leavetrack automatically handles public holidays and makes employee leave management effortless.

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Why HR Teams Choose Leavetrack

Everything you need for seamless leave management

Automatic Public Holiday Import: All public holidays for Germany and 180+ other countries automatically loaded. No manual data entry required.
Save 5+ Hours Per Week: Eliminate manual leave calculations and reduce administrative overhead by up to 80%.
Compliance Made Easy: Built-in compliance tracking ensures you meet local employment laws and holiday entitlements.
Team Visibility: Everyone sees who's off when, preventing scheduling conflicts and ensuring adequate coverage.

Trusted by HR teams worldwide

160,478

Absences managed

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Employees using Leavetrack

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Average customer rating

"With a team of over 50 employees, keeping track of absences and holidays using a paper based system used to be time consuming and prone to errors. Since introducing Leavetrack, the whole process has become a lot simpler and easier."

Cynthia Fisher

Commercial Director, Intatec Limited

How It Works

Simple, powerful leave management in four steps

Employees Request Leave

Simple, intuitive interface lets employees request time off in seconds. Public holidays are automatically excluded from calculations.

Book leave in under 30 seconds
See available leave balance instantly
Mobile-friendly for on-the-go requests

Managers Approve Instantly

Managers see all request details including conflicts with public holidays and other team members' leave.

Approve/reject directly from email
See team coverage at a glance
Complete audit trail of decisions

Plan Team Coverage

Beautiful visual calendar shows exactly who's off when, including public holidays, so you can plan optimal team coverage.

Color-coded wall chart
Filter by department or team
Spot conflicts before they happen

Generate Reports

Comprehensive reporting gives you insights into leave patterns, costs, and compliance - all exportable to Excel.

Full audit trail of all leave
Export to CSV for further analysis
Track entitlements and accruals

Don't Forget Your Free Planning Templates!

Get our ready-to-use staff planning templates to organize your team around Germany's 2026 public holidays

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About Public Holidays in Germany

In Germany, public holidays, known as "gesetzliche Feiertage," are an essential aspect of the country's cultural and social fabric. Each federal state has its own designated public holidays, which can lead to variations in observance across the nation. Major public holidays include New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour Day, and Christmas Day, among others. These holidays not only provide employees with time off to relax and celebrate but also play a significant role in absence management and staff leave planning within organizations. Understanding the public holiday calendar is crucial for businesses to effectively manage employee leave and ensure smooth operations throughout the year.