The curious case of Good Friday: Why only some parts of France have the day off

Easter is a holiday celebrated across Europe and much of the world, however a closer inspection of the French calendar may surprise some. 

Whilst Easter Monday is a public holiday – as it is in the UK, Australia, and several other countries – the status of Good Friday can be more confusing. 

A typical French calendar will have an asterisk on this day, showing that this is only a partially observed public holiday and not one of the 11 ‘full’ public holidays.

For most of France the day is considered the same as any other and workers do not automatically get a day’s holiday - although many do take a day off from their paid holiday allowance so as to benefit from a long weekend and Monday’s public holiday. 

However Good Friday is an official public holiday in the three eastern departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle.

This is also the case for December 26 (Boxing Day or St Stephen’s day), which is only a public holiday in these three departments. 

Special departmental rules allow certain shops, such as bakeries and tabacs but also florists and hairdressers, to open if they wish but otherwise it is the same as any other public holiday in France. 

As a full paid holiday, workers cannot be asked to lose a day of paid time off, or as time off in lieu (réduction du temps de travail or RTT).

German influence in area

The reason for these special rules is the departments’ Franco-German history.

The area was historically contested between France and Germany, with centuries of warfare in the wider Alsace and Lorraine regions over who the west bank of the Rhine belonged to. 

Following the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the land was ceded to Prussia (soon after the German Empire) and was seen as an integral part of Germany. 

In 1892, the Empire declared Good Friday a public holiday (it still is today in Germany) – which applied across all areas, including the recently conquered French lands. 

When the land was returned to France in 1919 after World War One, the two additional public holidays were kept even though they did not conform to the French calendar, as part of rules that allowed ‘Alsace-Moselle’ to keep certain local laws in place.

Historically, to benefit from the additional day off the commune had to have a local Protestant (non-Catholic) church within its boundaries. 

Over time this requirement was dropped and the benefits applied to the entire department.

During World War Two when the region was again seen as essentially German even if it remained within French borders during the Occupation the holidays remained and are still in place today. 

“Today, the Good Friday and St Stephen public holidays are more a cultural tradition than a religious one,” said lawyer from Strasbourg Eric Sander to local media FranceBleu. 

There has not been any major efforts to remove the two additional public holidays from the calendar in the regions, however locals are wary. 

A 2019 law requiring public servants to work 1,607 hours per year is at the crux of the warnings, as in the three departments this quota has never been met due to the additional days off. 

The government has for now not enforced the matter, although it could try to in the future – and in turn, attempt to bring similar rules in for the private sector. 

However, locals have pre-emptively signed a petition defending the additional holidays, which has received over 8,500 signatures.