Corpus Christi 2025: Where is it a public holiday, and where is it not? Overview of federal states

On Corpus Christi, believers celebrate one of the most important sacraments of the Catholic Church: the Eucharist, the presence of Jesus Christ.

What significance this so-called high festival has and where in Germany you don't have to work on Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi is a variable holiday that always takes place on the second Thursday after Pentecost , or 60 days after Easter . In 2025, Corpus Christi will fall on June 19 .

These are the next dates for Corpus Christi:

• Thursday, June 19, 2025
• Thursday, June 4, 2026
• Thursday, May 27, 2027
• Thursday, June 15, 2028
• Thursday, May 31, 2029

Corpus Christi is a public holiday in eight German states. In two of these, Saxony and Thuringia, however, it is only observed in certain municipalities. The determination of public holidays in Germany is left to the individual states. Only October 3rd is a nationally recognized public holiday.

In these federal states, Corpus Christi is a public holiday and therefore a non-working day:

• Baden-Württemberg
• Bavaria
• Hesse
• North Rhine-Westphalia
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saarland
• Saxony (only in individual municipalities)
• Thuringia (only in individual municipalities)

In Switzerland , Corpus Christi is also a regional public holiday in the predominantly Catholic cantons. In Austria, however, Corpus Christi is a national public holiday.

In the more Protestant northern and northeastern federal states, Corpus Christi is not a public holiday :

• Lower Saxony
• Bremen
• Hamburg
• Schleswig-Holstein
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Berlin
• Brandenburg
• Saxony-Anhalt

Catholics have been celebrating Corpus Christi for several centuries. The name is derived from the Middle High German word "vronlichnam," meaning the body ("lichnam") of the Lord ("vron"). Corpus Christi thus translates roughly as "Feast of the Body of Christ." In some regions, the feast is also called Pillory Day or Blood Day .

The roots of the Feast of Corpus Christi lie in the Last Supper, which Jesus celebrated with his disciples on Maundy Thursday . On this day, Jesus met with his twelve apostles for the last time. As he shared bread and wine with the disciples, he spoke the words: "This is my body" and "This is my blood."

In the so-called Eucharist , the Last Supper is reenacted by an authorized priest: At the end of the Holy Mass, the faithful receive Jesus in the form of the transfigured bread, the host, and wine. Therefore, on Corpus Christi, Catholics celebrate not only the memory but also the life of Jesus Christ.

Many Catholic parishes hold elaborate processions on Corpus Christi. During these processions, which begin after the services, the parish priest carries the monstrance containing the host, the symbolic body of Christ, through the streets. The faithful sing and pray, bearing witness to their faith in the living presence of Christ in festive community.