Although many other Christian festivals are holidays in France, Good Friday is not a day free for most of the country. Here is why.
Easter holidays are a traditional moment for families to meet and eat chocolate, but the four -day weekend is a tradition that only part of France enjoys.
Friday before Easter, which this year falls on April 18, is a holiday in much of Europe.
And it always has some puzzles for which France, a country that offers workers on the day of ascension, assumption and all the saints, among the ethers, cannot be said for Good Friday.
And it is equally more strange when you praise that in some parts of the country it is a real party.
Advertisement
The tradition of dealing with Friday before Easter as a normal work day did not begin until 1905 when the country became officially secular, dividing the state church.
Read more: Explained: What does Laribité (secularism) really mean in France?
From then on, unlike the rest of Europe, French workers have been forced to deal with Good Friday, called Holy vendredi In French, like a day like any other.
But not everywhere.
For the envy of most workers in France, those who live in the departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle, who make up the historical region of Alsace in eastern France, get a day free on Good Friday.
And the reason for this is the quite complicated story of Alsacia to change hands between Germany and France.
In 1871, Germany seized Alsacia, including most Bas-Rhin departments, Haut-Rhin, as well as the majority of the Moselle department in the Lorena region.
The territory was returned to France until the end of World War I in 1918.
At that time, citizens of the territory are quickly excited about the idea of losing their day and simply refused to resign … maybe demonstrating a French side of their nature that had lost the bone all those years of German domain.
His demands were and the legislation that makes the region an exception, known as Concordat of Alsace-Poselle, sealed the agreement.
And, in fact, it is for this same reason that this region obtains San Stephen’s day, also known as Boxing Day, as a day free as many other European countries. However, those who live in the rest of France have to return to work on December 26.
Advertisement
Perhaps, as expected, have regular leg challenges for the Concordat, and many argue that the region should the same rules as the rest of the country.
Altheghs, like Eric Sander, an expert in local law in the capital of Grand Est, Strasbourg, told France Bleu, it is unlikely that there are politicians willing to fight in that particular battle.
Easter Monday
So, after that logic, on Easter Monday is also a normal day in France too?
No, actually on Easter Monday is a holiday.
And it is unique in the French holiday calendar, since it is the only day off where there is no national event or a Christian festival (although it is obviously linked to Aster, the main day in the Christian calendar is Sunay, when Jesus).
It was Napoleon who made this a holiday in 1802 when he cut the approximately 50 holidays that the French celebrated at that time.
So why on Easter Monday did not get the cut along with Good Friday in 1905?
There, look, we never said that France made sense. Just enjoy the day off.
]
