Museums, shopping centers, and all manner of tourist shops and stops, plus authentic Dutch dining establishments, all remain open. In Amsterdam, Ascension Day comes and goes with little notice. Only about one in 20 Netherlands’ citizens attend church even one a month, but some churches will still hold services on Ascension Day, or as the Dutch call it, “Hemelvaartsdag.” It is traditional to hold special church services, for both Catholics and Protestants, on Ascension Day, to commemorate the day on which the Resurrected Christ ascended to Heavenly glory to be seated on the right hand of the Father. Today, however, some 40 percent of the population is secular, non-Christian religions account for a tenth of the population, and Christianity is a plurality but no longer a majority religion. However, considering the fact that the Netherlands tends to enjoy quite nice weather around the time that Hemelvaart falls, the day off has also become a popular date for various events and festivals, such as the Breda Jazz Festival or Rollende Keukens in Amsterdam.įurthermore, many schools close on the Friday after Hemelvaart, and sometimes people opt to take the Friday off work allowing them to enjoy a long weekend.The Netherlands has historically been a Christian nation and, since the early 1500’s, a Protestant nation. Catholic and Protestant Churches will also hold a Mass on Ascension Day. Nowadays, some families will cycle or go out for a walk on the morning of Hemelvaart instead. This involved walking or dancing barefoot in the dew, which was believed to have healing and purifying properties. Historically, people in the Netherlands would wake up early on Ascension Day and go out into the fields before sunrise where they would engage in some dauwtrappen.
How does the Netherlands celebrate Hemelvaart? This means that, while Dutch culture and society have become increasingly secular, a number of religious holidays are still recognised nationally, meaning civil servants and the majority of people working in the Netherlands have a mandatory day off on Hemelvaart. Like various other countries around the world, the Netherlands is traditionally a Catholic country, and a number of key Catholic holidays are celebrated with national holidays. The first known celebration of the day is believed to have occurred in the fourth century, but over time Ascension Day has become an increasingly important holiday within the Catholic Church. This means the Netherlands will celebrate Hemelvaart on May 18, and Pentecost, or Whitsun, will fall on May 28. In 2023, Easter Sunday was celebrated on April 9. This means that the date of Ascension Day changes every year. In Dutch, Ascension Day is known as Hemelvaartsdag - or just Hemelvaart - which translates directly as "heaven ascension day".Īscension Day always falls precisely 39 days after Easter Sunday - the Day of Christ’s resurrection - and 10 days before Pentecost ( Pinksteren). It’s a holiday observed by Christians around the world, and is a recognised holiday in a number of countries across Europe, including Switzerland, Germany and France.
But what exactly is Ascension Day? And why is this a Dutch holiday? Read on for answers to all your Hemelvaart-related questions! What is Ascension Day?Īscension Day is a key date in the Christian calendar, and marks the day that the church celebrates the ascent of Jesus Christ into heaven on the 40th day after his resurrection. One of the public holidays the Netherlands does get, however, is Ascension Day, or Hemelvaart. To add insult to injury, any holidays that fall on a weekend aren’t compensated for, meaning that in some years, workers miss out on multiple days off.
ASCENSION DAY 2021 NETHERLANDS FREE
While people living and working in other countries across Europe can enjoy as many as 12 free days a year, here in the Netherlands the general public is offered a measly seven (or eight, which only happens every fifth year when Liberation Day is a holiday). Talk to anyone who has a job in the Netherlands and you’ll quickly realise that the topic of public holidays is a bit of a sore point.
0 kommentar(er)
