Timetable
Sunday is closing day for stores: for supermarkets as well as for small boutiques and department stores. In cities like Munich, closing time is often between 7 and 8 pm.
Public holidays vary from state to state in Germany. Bavaria has 13 public holidays a year, making it the state with the most. Its calendar essentially follows Catholic celebrations. Stores are generally closed on public holidays.
January1: New Year's Day.
January 6: Epiphany.
Good Friday (date varies).
Easter Monday (date varies).
May1: Labor Day.
Ascension Thursday, 40 days after Easter.
Whit Monday (date varies).
Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi Day (date varies).
August 8: Hohes Friedensfest (a curiosity of Germany's decentralized system: since the 17th century, Augsburg has had one more public holiday than any other Bavarian city: August 8 is a day to celebrate peace).
August 15: Assumption Day.
October 3: German Unity Day, national holiday.
November1: All Saints' Day.
December 25: Christmas Day.
December 26:2nd Christmas Day.
Sales
Since 2004, sales can be organized at will and are not limited to seasonal goods. However, seasonal sales continue to be held at the same times as before. Typically: mid-June and January-February.
What's very local
In Nuremberg, you'll find numerous pastry shops and bakeries offering the traditional Lebkuchen, a gingerbread, often placed on a wafer and covered in chocolate.
Souvenir stores in Bavaria are filled with mugs of beer and glasses of schnapps. You'll find them with all sorts of coats of arms, monuments, historical celebrities and so on. In general, they're rather expensive.
In microbreweries, you'll find craft beers for yourself or as gifts.