Christmas is a very important religious festival for Christians. So that they can celebrate with their families and attend church services, all shops are closed on December 25 and 26. Shops are also closed on January 1, New Year’s Day, and January 6, Epiphany.
Christmas begins on December 24 with Christmas Eve. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Shops are allowed to be open until 2 p.m. at the latest on this day. However, as some close earlier, it is advisable to check in advance. Everything is closed on December 25 and 26. On Boxing Day, however, bakeries, among others, are allowed to open for three hours.
The regulations are similar on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. In theory, shops are allowed to be open until midnight on December 31, as New Year’s Eve is not a public holiday. In practice, however, most close between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. January 1 is a public holiday. Shops are closed, but bakeries and flower shops are allowed to open for three hours, and newsagents for six hours. Shops are also closed on January 6, when the Three Kings are celebrated in Baden-Württemberg.
All public holidays are non-working days. This means that anyone employed by a company has December 25 and 26 as well as January 1 and 6 off and is still paid. Exceptions are made for hospitals, buses and trains, and other facilities that are needed around the clock . For December 24 and December 31, there are different regulations in different companies.
Public life is severely restricted during the Christmas season. Many government offices are closed, libraries are closed, and buses run according to the holiday schedule. Details can be found on the websites of the local authorities. In Tübingen, for example, at the following address:
https://www.tuebingen.de/1620.html#/46231
There you can also find out where to turn in an emergency.
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