Bridge days 2027: lots of time off with little leave
A bridge day is a single working day between a public holiday and the weekend. Bridging it with one day of leave gives you a long weekend. 2027 is not an easy year for this: many holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday. That makes it all the more important to know the few good opportunities early.
All public holidays of 2027 by calendar week and the working days of every week for your German state can be found in the calendar week calculator. The dates below are calculated under ISO 8601 and from the Easter date of 28 March 2027.
Still in 2026: the turn of the year
Christmas Eve (Thursday, 24 December 2026) and New Year's Eve (Thursday, 31 December 2026) are not statutory holidays, but many employers give them fully or partly off. With five days of leave — 24, 28, 29, 30 and 31 December 2026 — you have eleven days off in a row from 24 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, because 25 December and New Year's Day (Friday, 1 January 2027) are public holidays.
Easter 2027: 4 days of leave, 10 days off
Good Friday falls on 26 March 2027, Easter Monday on 29 March. With four days of leave from Tuesday, 30 March, to Friday, 2 April 2027, you are off for ten days from 26 March to 4 April. Alternatively, take the four days before Good Friday (22 to 25 March) and you also get ten days off, from 20 to 29 March.
Ascension Day: the classic bridge day
Ascension Day is on Thursday, 6 May 2027. Friday, 7 May 2027, is therefore the best-known bridge day of the year: one day of leave, four days off. Because Labour Day falls on a Saturday in 2027, Ascension Day is the best opportunity for a long weekend in spring.
Whitsun and Corpus Christi
Whit Monday is 17 May 2027 and gives everyone a long weekend without taking leave. In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, Corpus Christi follows on Thursday, 27 May 2027 — with the bridge day Friday, 28 May. With four days of leave there (24, 25, 26 and 28 May) you are off for nine days from 22 to 30 May. Add the four days after Whit Monday (18 to 21 May) and eight days of leave give you sixteen days off from 15 to 30 May.
Regional holidays with a long weekend
Some state holidays fall on a Monday in 2027 and create a long weekend without any leave: International Women's Day on Monday, 8 March, in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, World Children's Day on Monday, 20 September, in Thuringia, and All Saints' Day on Monday, 1 November, in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, Epiphany is on Wednesday, 6 January 2027. Taking Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (4, 5, 7 and 8 January) extends the Christmas break until 10 January. In Saxony, the Day of Repentance and Prayer falls on Wednesday, 17 November 2027.
Where there are no bridges in 2027
Labour Day (Saturday, 1 May), German Unity Day (Sunday, 3 October), Reformation Day (Sunday, 31 October) and the Christmas holidays (Saturday and Sunday, 25 and 26 December 2027) all fall on a weekend. German law does not provide for a substitute holiday on the following Monday.
Planning tips
Submit leave requests for bridge days early, as they are often snapped up quickly in many teams. Also check whether your employer designates bridge days as company closure days; they are then often deducted from your annual leave. The holiday entitlement calculator works out how many days of leave you are entitled to, including part-time work or a change of job. For an overview of the year's calendar weeks, see Calendar weeks 2027.