In Saxony, the Day of Prayer and Repentance is celebrated this Wednesday. The Free State is the only federal state to keep the holiday. However, criticism is voiced every year. This is because employees in Saxony pay more money into the care fund. "The Day of Prayer and Repentance costs employees in Saxony 250 euros every year. That's unfair," rages SPD party and parliamentary group leader Henning Homann. Deutsche Presse-Agentur presents the background and positions.
Why is the Day of Prayer and Repentance celebrated?
The Day of Prayer and Repentance is a holiday of the Protestant Church, which is always celebrated on the first Wednesday after the Day of Mourning. This year, it falls on November 19. According to the Protestant church, services on this day focus on reflection, critical life assessment and reorientation. "Failure and guilt, omissions and wrong decisions can be brought before God in prayer. The holiday also serves to reflect on social errors."
Why is Saxony taking a special path?
The Day of Prayer and Repentance was abolished as a public holiday throughout Germany in 1995 to enable the financing of the newly introduced long-term care insurance. Only Saxony, with its then Minister President Kurt Biedenkopf (CDU), opposed this. While the day has been a normal working day in all other federal states since then, Saxony has the day off. To finance the day, however, they have to pay 0.5 percent more of their gross salary into care insurance than employees in the rest of the country.
What is the background to the funding?
In essence, it was about offsetting the additional burden on employers caused by a public holiday. Initially, employees even paid the entire contribution rate for the new insurance scheme on their own. In the opinion of critics, the argument that employers in Saxony are additionally burdened is invalid in view of the number of public holidays in other federal states. In comparison with Bavaria and its twelve public holidays, for example, there are only eleven in Saxony, they claim.
What is the position of other parties?
AfD, SPD and Linke want to make the Day of Prayer and Repentance free of charge for employees. The Greens also consider the additional burden to be unfair. For SPD state and parliamentary group leader Homann, the regulation is "no longer in keeping with the times". "It is a question of justice to put the Day of Prayer and Repentance in Saxony on an equal footing with all other public holidays in Germany." In Saxony, the federal government is seen as having a duty. "Because the regulation for financing the Day of Prayer and Repentance is a federal decision and only the federal government can change it," emphasized Homann.
What do the trade unions say about the Day of Prayer and Repentance?
The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) believes that the Day of Prayer and Repentance comes at a high price for employees. "This special approach in Saxony must finally come to an end. We demand fair contributions and the retention of the public holiday," explains Saxony's DGB Vice President Daniela Kolbe. After all, this is what the coalition agreement of the CDU-SPD government in Saxony says. Kolbe is calling on the coalition to finally get into gear and lobby for equal funding in the Bundesrat. This is not about peanuts.
Restrictions on the Day of Prayer and Repentance in Saxony
Dancing events are banned on the Day of Prayer and Repentance in Saxony. Whether all Protestant Christians in Saxony actually use the Day of Prayer and Repentance for special reflection remains to be seen. As it is under special protection, "public dancing events and other public amusements that run counter to the serious character of these days" are prohibited from 3.00 a.m. to midnight.
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