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NRW demands the same holiday regulations: Bavaria and BW in focus!
NRW Schools Minister Feller is calling for a uniform holiday regulation for all federal states in order to better distribute the flow of holidaymakers.
NRW demands the same holiday regulations: Bavaria and BW in focus!
On July 14, 2025, North Rhine-Westphalia Schools Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) raised an important concern at the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs: She is calling for equal vacation regulations for all federal states. Feller expressed this wish in relation to the current practice, according to which Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are always the last federal states to start the summer holidays.
The summer holidays in Germany currently begin alternately between the end of June and mid-August. This was introduced to ease travel and promote tourism. However, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg do not take part in this regulation. Their holidays traditionally start last, which leads to dissatisfaction as these federal states benefit from the cheaper low season and have advantages when booking holidays.
Expiry of the holiday regulations
However, future changes to the holiday regulations remain to be seen, as these will not take effect until 2030 at the earliest. The current regulations have already been determined by then. The delayed holiday regulations in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are due to the fact that the Pentecost holidays there can last until mid-June, which is intended to ensure sufficient learning and exam time between the holidays.
In addition to the differences in holiday periods, the federal states have implemented a rolling system for summer holiday dates to guarantee an even distribution of holidaymakers and avoid traffic problems. The summer holidays are divided into five country groups:
| Country group | Federal states |
|---|---|
| I | Brandenburg, Berlin, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein |
| II | Bremen, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia |
| III | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| IV | Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland |
| v | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria |
Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which are divided into Group V, have the last dates for the summer holidays. This leads to a clear disadvantage compared to the other federal states, which have more flexible holiday periods overall.
The issue not only poses a problem for vacation planning, but also raises questions about equal opportunities for students in the various federal states. Feller and her colleagues are now faced with the challenge of finding a solution that is fair for all federal states.
Further information about the school holidays in Germany can be found on the website of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs at kmk.org as well as in the report by Deutschlandfunk.