Berliners to celebrate end of WW2 with one-off public holiday

On 8 May 2025, the city will mark the 80th anniversary of its liberation from Nazism

Every year on 8 May, Berlin and the rest of Europe marks the end of World War II, the most destructive event of the 20^th century. It is normally a working day in the German capital, even though there are official commemorations.

In 2025, however, it will be an official public holiday, meaning it will be a non-working day - a way to honour the 80^th anniversary of the end of hostilities. The city is preparing for this momentous occasion early and last week, the regional Senate introduced a bill legalizing the change (valid only for that year).

“Peaceful coexistence between peoples is still not a given. Recent history shows that wars cannot be permanently ruled out, even in Europe,” said Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) about the initiative. "This awareness should be particularly honoured by a public holiday in 2025 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe."

The history of 8 May in Berlin

This is actually not the first time that 8 May will be marked as a public holiday in the German capital. Between 1950 and 1967, the date was marked as a non-working holiday in all of the Communist East Germany.

Once the five-day working week was introduced, the day was only marked ceremonially, however, in 1975, it was made a non-working day (for that year) for the 30^th anniversary of the end of the war. This was once again repeated in 1985.

It looks like the practice has now been revived by the Berlin regional government, which also made it a one-off public holiday in 2020.

Unlike Europe, Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany on 9 May because the capitulation document by the Wehrmacht was signed late at night on 8 May 1945 and at that moment it was already 9 May in the Soviet Union.