Buß- und Bettag - Day of Revival and Prayer

The Protestant church festival of Buß- und Bettag (German link), more or less Day of Revival and Prayer, is celebrated on the third Wednesday in November. Up until 1994 it was a general holiday, in 1995 is was cancelled in order to finance the compulsory nursing care insurance (the plan seriously back-fired).

Saxony alone, a state which remained faithful to Protestantism even after August the Strong (Elector of Saxony) converted to Catholicism in order to become King of Poland, retains the day as a public holiday. However, any Protestant who feels the urge to observe this day is entitled to - unpaid - vacation.

Warning: It's a school holiday in Bavaria!

Saxony; national holiday until 1994. The holiday has been dropped in exchange for the introduction of nursing care insurance. Saxony is the only state where employers don't have to pay the nursing care insurance, it's all been paid by the employees, so they could keep the holiday.

It was a bummer for my wife: working in Dresden, but angemeldet in Verden, Niedersachsen, it meant she had to work when all the Saxons had a day off!

And what a load of hairy Wallaby wank this is. Not only have the kids a day off school, presenting a logistical nightmare for parents who both work, the kids have to go to school this Saturday.

I know that the two don't bare a direct relation to each other (the Saturday school day is to make a whole week free for All Hallows/Saints half term), but why not scrap the Buß und Bettag and forget school on Saturday?

What kind of fornicating Richard is behind this logic? And what sayeth the religious of other non-Christian denominations and Athiests, Agnostics, Flying Spaghetti Monster devotees? Why should we atone and pray? Or do they mean get on a Buss and go to Bett...Germans and their bloody religious observances (don't get me started about opening hours/Sunday shopping)?

When I first came here I was excited to find that there was a kissing in bed day. How dissapointed was I to find out it was some religious thing , when i was expecting some kind of day where children still went to school and parents got the day off to fanny about in bed all day ( pardon the expression )

On this subject, when I first arrived here, I asked my wife why she kept saying "pussy juice" to her mother at the end of a telephone conversation. Ah, you mean "bussy, tschus" she answered, laughing.