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The Berlin state calendar in 2026
Berlin sets its school holidays at state level, through the Senate education administration, and both state and international schools in the city work around that framework. International schools align their main breaks with the state holidays but set their own precise term start and end dates and add their own in-service days, so the state calendar tells you when the city's families will be travelling while your child's exact first and last day comes from the school. For the wider picture of schools and stages, see our international schools in Berlin directory, and for the full date tables our Berlin school holidays 2026 calendar.
The 2026 holiday dates that shape the year
The Berlin state holiday dates below apply across the city in 2026. We have given firm dates for the main breaks and flagged the two that families should confirm against the school's own calendar, the single Pentecost bridge day and the start of the Christmas break.
| Holiday (Berlin state) | Dates 2026 |
|---|---|
| Winter holiday (Winterferien) | 2 February to 7 February 2026 |
| Easter / spring holiday (Osterferien) | 30 March to 10 April 2026 |
| Pentecost bridge day (Pfingsten) | a single day in mid to late May 2026 (confirm with school) |
| Summer holiday (Sommerferien) | 9 July to 22 August 2026 |
| Autumn holiday (Herbstferien) | 19 October to 31 October 2026 |
| Christmas holiday (Weihnachtsferien) | from around 23 December 2026 into early January 2027 (confirm with school) |
These are the centrally set state dates. Berlin adds a single bridge day around Pentecost in late May, and individual schools add their own teacher-training days through the year, so a school's actual closures will be a little wider than the table above. The exact start of the Christmas break and the Pentecost day are the two to verify against your school's published calendar, which is why we have flagged them rather than fix a date we cannot confirm.
How international school terms map onto the dates
International schools in Berlin align their breaks with these state holidays but do not all run an identical year. The IB schools, such as Berlin Brandenburg International School, Berlin International School and Berlin Metropolitan School, typically run a year from late August to late June or early July with breaks around the state dates. British curriculum schools, principally Berlin British School, use a three-term structure with an autumn and a spring half-term that fall in the autumn and winter windows above. The practical upshot is that the state table tells you when the city's families will be travelling, while the exact first and last day of your child's year, and any extra in-service days, come from the individual school. Some schools were still finalising their 2026 to 2027 dates at the time of writing, so treat the late-August start and late-June or early-July finish as indicative until each school confirms.
Choosing a school in Berlin?
The school finder filters Berlin schools by curriculum, district and stage so you can match the calendar and the programme at once.
Use the school finderPlanning the 2026 year
Three practical points for families planning the Berlin school year. First, the summer holiday begins on 9 July 2026 and runs to 22 August, a long break by Northern European standards, so plan childcare or travel for the full six weeks well ahead. Second, the winter and autumn breaks are short single weeks, in early February and late October, which makes them good windows for off-peak travel before prices climb. Third, international school fees are usually billed by semester or term, with the larger invoice falling at the late-August restart; our guide to international school fees in Berlin covers the tiers and timing. Families with younger children can also see stage-specific timing in our Berlin primary schools guide.
Related reading
- Berlin school holidays 2026: full term dates calendar
- International schools in Berlin: the directory
- International school fees in Berlin
- Berlin primary schools
Common questions
Berlin sets its school holidays at state level through the Senate education administration, and both state and international schools work around that calendar. In 2026 the summer holiday runs from 9 July to 22 August, with shorter breaks in February, around Easter, in late October and at Christmas. International schools build their own term dates around these state breaks.
The Berlin state summer holiday runs from 9 July to 22 August 2026. International schools may finish a little earlier and start a little later than the state dates, so confirm the exact end and start of the year with your school, especially as some were still finalising 2026 to 2027 dates.
Broadly, but not always to the day. International schools in Berlin align their breaks with the state winter, Easter, summer and autumn holidays, but each sets its own term start and end and its own in-service days, and British curriculum schools use a three-term half-term pattern. Always check the school's own published calendar for the precise dates.
The Berlin Winterferien run from 2 February to 7 February 2026, a single week. It is one of the shorter breaks in the year and most Berlin international schools take their February break in this window, though they confirm the precise dates on their own calendars.
Each school publishes its own calendar, and schools such as Berlin Brandenburg International School, Berlin International School and Berlin British School list term dates on their websites. For the consolidated state-holiday framework, see our full Berlin school holidays 2026 calendar, then confirm the precise figures with your chosen school.