Are shops open today in Germany?
A live check for whether shops in Germany are open today or tomorrow: Sundays, nationwide public holidays, and what still stays open.
Last updated: a few seconds ago
Today, Monday 19 October 2026: shops in Germany are open as usual (regular opening hours, typically until 20:00).
Tomorrow, Tuesday 20 October 2026: shops are open as usual.
Next public holiday: Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026 (in 67 days).
Shop opening hours in Germany
Shop opening hours in Germany are set by each federal state. In the 2006 federalism reform, shop-closing rules moved out of the old nationwide Ladenschlussgesetz and into state law. The practical pattern is the same almost everywhere: shops may open Monday to Saturday, and they are closed on Sunday.
Most supermarkets open around 7:00 or 8:00 and close at 20:00. In larger cities some stay open until 22:00. Smaller towns often shut earlier, especially on Saturday afternoon.
Bavaria and Saarland are stricter than the other states. In both, the normal rule is that shops close by 20:00 from Monday to Saturday. Saarland sets the weekday window at 6:00 to 20:00. Bavaria's state shop-closing law, in force since August 2025, uses the same 6:00 to 20:00 frame. Late openings exist only where a municipality allows them, and they are announced locally. Saarland also allows up to four shopping Sundays a year, at most five hours and finished by 18:00, with a list of excluded days that includes Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday and the public holidays in December. Those are exceptions, not a normal week.
Sunday closing applies in every state. If your town has not announced a shopping Sunday, the high street is shut.
What is open on Sundays and public holidays
The Sunday rule, and the same rule on a public holiday, leaves a short list of exceptions:
- Petrol stations, including the small shop on the forecourt.
- Shops inside major railway stations and airports. A supermarket in a main station (Hauptbahnhof) is the usual fallback when the rest of town is shut.
- Bakeries, for a limited time in the morning. How long they may stay open depends on the state. In Bavaria, bakeries may open for at most three hours inside an 8:00 to 18:00 window, and not on the second day of Christmas, Easter or Whitsun.
- Emergency pharmacies, the Notdienst. Towns run a rota, so one pharmacy in the area is on duty even when the branch nearest you is closed. The duty pharmacy is posted locally and online.
- Restaurants, cafés and bars. They are not shops under the shop-closing laws, and they normally trade on Sunday.
- Many museums and galleries.
A few times a year a town may hold a verkaufsoffener Sonntag, a shopping Sunday. How many are allowed, and whether a special occasion is required, differs by state. Dates are announced locally, often around a market or a festival. Without that announcement, Sunday is closed.
Nationwide public holidays
On these nine days, shops are closed in every state:
- New Year's Day, 1 January
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Labour Day, 1 May
- Ascension Day
- Whit Monday
- German Unity Day, 3 October
- Christmas Day, 25 December
- Boxing Day, 26 December
Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are not extra nationwide holidays. They fall on Sunday, so shops are closed under the Sunday rule anyway.
Regional holidays, where only some states close
Other public holidays close shops only in some states. If you are travelling, check the state you will actually be in. The box at the top of this page uses the nationwide calendar only.
- Epiphany, 6 January: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt.
- International Women's Day, 8 March: Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
- Corpus Christi: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, plus some municipalities in Saxony and Thuringia, including parts of the Eichsfeld.
- Assumption Day, 15 August: Saarland, and the predominantly Catholic municipalities of Bavaria. It is not a holiday across the whole of Bavaria.
- World Children's Day, 20 September: Thuringia.
- Reformation Day, 31 October: Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia.
- All Saints' Day, 1 November: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
- Repentance and Prayer Day (Buß- und Bettag): Saxony only. It falls on a Wednesday in November, and the date changes each year. In 2026 it is Wednesday 18 November.
A few cities add a holiday of their own. The Augsburg Peace Festival on 8 August closes shops in Augsburg and nowhere else.
Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year's Eve (31 December) are not public holidays. Shops are usually open in the morning and close around 14:00, then stay shut. If either date falls on a Sunday, the normal Sunday closing applies for the whole day. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are nationwide public holidays, and shops are closed.
Before a long weekend
Do the shopping on the last ordinary weekday. If Friday or Monday is a public holiday, shops are closed that day and on Sunday. Saturday, the day in between, is still a normal shopping day. A bridge day (Brückentag), the working day tucked between a holiday and the weekend, is a normal shopping day too, unless it is itself a holiday.
When the high street is shut, try a petrol station or a shop inside the main railway station. Station supermarkets in larger cities often keep Sunday hours. For medicine, look up the Notdienst pharmacy rather than walking to the nearest branch.
The answer at the top of this page is calculated in the Europe/Berlin time zone every time the site is rebuilt, which happens every few minutes. It checks today and tomorrow against nationwide public holidays. It does not know your state, so a regional holiday can still close the shops where you are on a day the box calls ordinary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are shops open today in Germany?
On Monday to Saturday, shops are generally open unless the day is a public holiday in your state. Sundays are closed nationwide, apart from petrol stations, shops in main stations and airports, bakeries for a short morning period, and emergency pharmacies. The box at the top of this page checks today against the nationwide holiday calendar and is updated every few minutes. A holiday that exists only in some states can still close shops locally.
Are stores closed tomorrow?
Stores are generally open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sunday and on public holidays. The line under today's answer says whether tomorrow is an ordinary shopping day, a Sunday, or a nationwide public holiday. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are usually short days, with shops closing around 14:00.
Is anything open on Sunday in Germany?
Most shops are closed. You can usually still buy basics at petrol stations and in shops at major railway stations and airports. Bakeries open for a limited time in the morning, and the hours depend on the state. Restaurants and cafés are normally open. At least one pharmacy in the area is on emergency duty (Notdienst). A locally announced shopping Sunday (verkaufsoffener Sonntag) is an occasional exception.
Are supermarkets open on public holidays in Germany?
Ordinary supermarkets are closed on public holidays, just as they are on Sunday. The practical exceptions are grocery shops inside main railway stations and airports, and the small shops at petrol stations. A neighbourhood supermarket is not a safe bet.
Are shops open on Christmas Eve in Germany?
Christmas Eve is not a public holiday. Shops usually open in the morning and close around 14:00. If 24 December falls on a Sunday, shops stay closed under the Sunday rule. Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 25 and 26 December, are nationwide public holidays, and shops are closed.
Do regional holidays close shops across Germany?
No. Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Assumption Day, Reformation Day and All Saints' Day apply only in certain states, and a few apply only in part of a state. Shops close where the day is a public holiday and stay open elsewhere. Only the nine nationwide holidays close shops in every state.