The allegedly Italian art of "fare il ponte", using "bridge days" to maximize paid time away from the workplace, is alive in Germany, too.
The trend was reinforced by the removal of several national holidays, mostly religious ones, such as Repentance Day.
They don't have anything to repent any longer, some say.
The first week of October has become a favorite since October 3 became a national holiday after unification of West Germany and East Germany.
Given that this holiday is the first after about three months over the summer without a national holiday, Germans concentrate a lot of energy on this day.
This year, 3 October is a Friday to boot, and you could feel the country go into bridge mode as early as the past weekend.
To the folks here at the K-Landnews, 3 October has a special meaning: it marks the day we stood in front of the grocery store the first year we were here, marveling at how quiet the store was.
Until we saw the handwritten holiday sign.
The day could well have marked a "walk of shame", except that nobody was around.
The 3 October bridge is popular with local government, too. They love to schedule their annual employee outing the day before a holiday.
Keeping the outing short, to half a workday or so, adds a few precious hours to the bridge.
So, if you live in Germany and need something from local officials, get them early next week while the afterglow of the bridge days has them in a mellow state of mind.
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