Hesse remains holiday desert: Reformation Day and All Saints' Day without an opportunity!

Hesse remains holiday desert: Reformation Day and All Saints' Day without an opportunity!

Wiesbaden, Deutschland - in Hesse it stays with the holiday frustration! Citizens have to get by again on the Reformation Day and All Saints' Day without free days. While other federal states are looking forward to an additional holiday, Hessen looks into the tube - the state government sees no need for action. Since 2018, people from Darmstadt to Kassel have been wondering why Hessen is only a few holidays compared to other federal states.

The federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, the Saarland, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, which consider themselves the majority of Catholic and thus celebrate the 1st November, All Saints' Day, are particularly privileged this year. These five federal states enjoy two consecutive days off while Hesse and Berlin go away on both days.

holiday discussion in Hesse: Reformation Day and All Saints' Day

The Hessian state government justifies the holiday situation with the mix of faith of the population. According to a spokesman for the Hessian Ministry of the Interior, only about 35 percent of people were evangelical in 2017, which influenced the decision not to introduce the Reformation Day as a public holiday. All Saints' Day, on the other hand, was celebrated in some Catholic communities until 1952 before it was abolished to ensure equal treatment of all citizens.

In the meantime, other federal states such as Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony have introduced the Reformation Day as a holiday, while Hessen continues to consider which event would be suitable as a holiday. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser even brought the 1st December as a "day of democracy", but the CDU sees no need for this. The SPD does not pursue the topic after the coalition formation with the Christian Democrats. So Hessen remains a holiday desert, while other federal states are celebrating!