International Women’s Day - celebrated every year on March 8 - is to become an official public holiday in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from 2023. 

New public holiday in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on March 8

On Monday, Jeannine Rösler, the parliamentary group leader of the Left party, which recently formed a ruling coalition with the SPD in the state, announced that the new holiday would start in 2023. The two parties previously stated their intention to make the date a day off in their coalition agreement.

According to Rösler, the necessary legislation will be put in place by the state parliament in March 2022, but the first holiday won’t come until 2023. She said companies would need some time to prepare. Luckily, March 8, 2023 is a Wednesday, so residents of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern can look forward to a day off work or school. 

International Women’s Day previously only a holiday in Berlin

Up until now, the northeastern state had fewer public holidays than many other federal states in Germany - 10 days per year, compared to, for instance, the 13 marked in Bavaria each year - and so the state government wanted to create an additional day off. 

Currently, International Women’s Day is only a holiday in Berlin, where it has been celebrated as an official day off since 2019.