Overview
- Berlin and Brandenburg mark the day with numerous services and concerts, including a sermon in Berlin-Spandau by Sarah Mullally, recently named Archbishop of Canterbury, in a show of ecumenical ties.
- The date is a statutory holiday in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, while Berlin does not observe it and Baden-Württemberg treats it as movable.
- CDU politician Gitta Connemann questioned keeping the day work‑free, drawing sharp criticism from church leaders and figures across the political spectrum.
- Göttingen anthropologist Regina Bendix argues the holiday too often functions as a personal day off and urges using it to strengthen community life.
- Commentary on Berlin underscores accelerating secularization, citing low church affiliation and a reported near 20% year‑over‑year drop in Protestant baptisms.