All Saints Day in NRW: Shopping tips for the holiday today!

All Saints Day in NRW: Shopping tips for the holiday today!

All Saints' Day is celebrated in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on November 1, 2025. This holiday commemorates all people who have led a holy life and is also important in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saarland. On this day, residents of North Rhine-Westphalia have the opportunity to travel to neighboring federal states in order to make the most of the holiday shopping there, as there are no restrictions in these regions. However, in Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Brandenburg, Bremen and Hamburg, November 1st is not a public holiday, which could attract numerous business travelers on this day.

Reformation Day, celebrated on October 31st, is another important holiday in Germany when the Protestant Church commemorates Martin Luther's posting of his theses on the castle church in Wittenberg in 1517. October 31st is a public holiday in nine German states, including Brandenburg, Bremen and Hamburg, while it is not recognized as a holiday in other states such as North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Berlin. This regulation makes it clear that public holidays in Germany are a matter for the states, and this results in different celebrations and holiday regulations in the individual federal states. WDR reports that Reformation Day is traditionally celebrated in eastern German states and has also been introduced as a public holiday in northern German states since 2018.

Different holiday regulations in the federal states

In Germany there are a total of nine national public holidays, but eleven federal states have additional public holidays, which often leads to a difference in public holidays. While the southern German federal states have an advantage with holidays such as All Saints' Day and the Assumption of Mary, these additional days off are often missing in the northern federal states. Sunday paper makes it clear that Reformation Day is an important date for Protestant Christians, as it not only symbolizes religious renewal, but also stands for freedom of conscience and social change.

Overall, the variety of public holidays in Germany shows that the regulations are often adapted to the respective culture and history of the federal states. While November 1st, All Saints Day, is celebrated in North Rhine-Westphalia, the focus in the federal states that celebrate Reformation Day is on a different historical and cultural heritage. Working Days.org highlights that the next public holiday in Germany will again be All Saints' Day on November 1, 2025, providing another opportunity for people to maintain communal traditions.