A major row has broken out in Germany over summer holidays, and it has nothing to do with beating Brits to reserve a spot by the swimming pool. Germans are famously early risers when it comes to sunshine breaks, often claiming key spots in a resort or on a beach to while away the hours.
The early bird tactic might work for the Germans when they take holidays abroad but back home a huge debate is raging because two southern states within the country, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, start their holiday breaks later than the rest. The other 14 federal regions, where schools break up earlier, argue they suffer from peak holiday prices, increased traffic and more tourists at popular destinations, whereas the two later break up states get cheaper holidays, less traffic and quieter attractions.
Germany is experiencing something of a political shake up at present as the country leans towards a more anti-immigration stance, and greater involvement in the NATO military build up against Russian aggression in Ukraine and in the Baltic.
Its two southern most states have a fixed holiday time each year, usually from the end of July or beginning of August, until mid-September. The dates are based on the traditional Catholic Pentecost holidays.
In the rest of the country children and adults have to content with a rotation system which sees schools break up sometimes as early as June with all returning by the start of August.
The system for the majority of states was introduced in 1964 to reduce holiday congestion at airports, train stations and on the roads. But now angry residents claim it unfairly allows the two southern states to get the best summer deals.
German news site DW reports the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Education Minister Dorothee Feller said: “This rigid system is no longer fair.”
And Bild reports Rhineland-Palatinate’s Education Minister Sven Teuber echoed her calls, telling the newspaper: “Summer holidays are not a privilege for a few states. We need constructive solutions, including from those that have shown little flexibility so far.”
School pupils in Germany are allowed 75 days a year off lessons to take as holiday.
But Bavaria’s Premier Markus Söder of the Christian Social Union (CSU) has dismissed the calls for change. “We have our holiday rhythm — it’s part of Bavaria’s DNA.”
