Christmas Eve – Germany

The next Christmas Eve is on Thursday, December 24, 2026 – in 100 days.

In Germany it's an observance, which means plenty of people mark it but nobody gets the day off work or school.

When is it? Christmas Eve falls on the same date every year, December 24. The date itself never changes, but the day of the week does, and that decides whether you get a long weekend out of it. Next time round is Thursday, December 24, 2026, 100 days from now.

Which weekday does it land on? Across the eleven years in the table, Christmas Eve lands twice on a Wednesday, twice on a Monday, twice on a Sunday and twice on a Friday. In four of those it sits next to a weekend, turning it into a three-day break. Those are the years to book early. You can open the printable calendar for any year in the table and see the date in context.

What to expect on the day. Nothing closes. Shops, offices, schools and transport all run as normal, because this is a day people mark rather than a day they get off. That said, restaurants, florists and retailers often build around it, so booking ahead is sensible if you're planning to go out. In 2026 it falls in December, which also holds St Nicholas Day (Nikolaus) on the 6th, Christmas Day (1. Weihnachtstag) on the 25th, St Stephen's Day (2. Weihnachtstag) on the 26th and New Year's Eve on the 31st. Worth seeing them together before you commit to dates.

Putting it in your own calendar. You don't need to. Every calendar on this site already shows Christmas Eve for whichever country you've selected. What's worth adding is everything around it: the travel, the cover arrangements, who's visiting when. Open the month, click the days and type. Keep a free account and the notes stay with you between devices, and you can send someone a read-only link so you're both working from the same dates.

Christmas Eve is marked in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and Netherlands as well. The date and the way it's observed aren't always the same from one country to the next, so use the links below to get the version that applies to you.

Christmas Eve dates 2026–2036