Europe

On the 8th of March in Berlin, International Women's Rights Day is Celebrated

The City of Berlin decided on Thursday to make March 8th, International Women's Rights Day, a public holiday

March 08th, 2019
Soulivane ZIANI, News from Berlin
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The City of Berlin decided on Thursday to make March 8th the International Women’s Rights Day, a public holiday.

The decision was adopted by the city council on an initiative of the left-wing majority (SPD, Die Linke and the Greens).

The elected representatives of the German capital had been debating for several months about the creation of a new public holiday. SPD Mayor Michael Müller proposed March 18, the emblematic spring date of the 1848 Revolutions. The radical left preferred May 8, the date of the Nazi surrender in 1945.

A huge cost for the city?

All the left-wing parties finally agreed on 8 March, which since 1977 has been International Women's Rights Day. The decision is already under fire from the critics. This holiday could cost the city 160 million euros, warns the director of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the weekly Die Zeit.

However, the city has fewer public holidays than other German Länder. Berlin has ten days off, while Bavaria has 13 and Baden-Württemberg 12. In addition, May 8, 2020 will also be a public holiday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the fall of the Nazi regime.

References:

News from Berlin