Is Maundy Thursday a public holiday – who has the day off?

Every year, some wonder if and where Maundy Thursday is a public holiday. Others are wondering what this day is actually supposed to mean. GIGA tries to explain the facts to you.

Maundy Thursday holiday, rest day & ban on dancing: when and for whom?

In principle, Maundy Thursday is not a public holiday in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In the year 2023 Maundy Thursday falls on Thursday April 6th. Because it no holiday is, must worked normally that day will the shops are open and you can shop. Nevertheless, there are limitations:

• In Hesse All shops must close at 20:00 at the latest on Maundy Thursday.
• In Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland Maundy Thursday is asilent dayAnd that’s why there’s a ban on dancing at certain times.
• This ban on dancing also applies on the following Good Friday – then usually even the whole day.

What is the meaning of Maundy Thursday?

Maundy Thursday is the 5th day of the “holy week” of the Catholic Church. There are no clear results in the naming of this day. Some attribute the term to the “Greinen” (crying, mourning), others to the custom of eating green vegetables on Maundy Thursday.

Maundy Thursday is important in the Catholic liturgy because it is the day when the Last Supper is celebrated. But it was never a non-working holiday.

As a “silent public holiday”, however, it still influences you in a certain way: Similar to Good Friday, for example, around 700 films are not allowed to be shown in German cinemas or on TV. The banned list includes “The Life of Brian”, but also “Max and Moritz“, “Die Feuerzangenbowle” or the children’s film “Heidi in the mountains”. Most of these ban ratings are over 40 years old. If you are interested in which films are considered “not holiday-free”, you can view the PDF list of the FSK bring to mind.

“The Feuerzangenbowle” By the way, it can now be shown again on Maundy Thursday…

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