Public holidays: approval - of exceptions to the general rest period

On Sundays and public holidays, there is generally a general break from work. All publicly noticeable activities that are likely to impair this peace or that contradict the nature of Sundays and public holidays are prohibited. The institution of Sunday as a day of rest from work and spiritual uplift, which is constitutionally guaranteed as a basic element of social coexistence and state order and is handed over to legal protection, is comprehensively protected. The individual should be given the opportunity to celebrate the day according to his or her individual needs, detached from workday commitments and constraints.

The following public holidays are state-recognized in Lower Saxony:

• New Year’s Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• May 1st,
• Ascension Day
• Whit Monday
• the 3rd of October, as the Day of German Unity,
• the 31st of October, as Reformation Day,
• 1st Christmas Day,
• 2. Christmas Day.

In addition, the "silent holidays" - Good Friday, the second Sunday before the 1st Advent (Day of Remembrance) and the last Sunday before the 1st Advent (Sunday of the Dead) - are particularly protected.