Moveable and Fixed Feast Day Calendars for Germany

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Many times in the German Church Records, a minister recorded the date of an event by the name of the Fixed or Moveable Feast Date which is based on the liturgical year (the church year) rather than the Julian or Gregorian date that we would recognize. To convert a Moveable Feast Day that you see in a record to a Julian or Gregorian date, choose the year that you are working in from the table below.

Another great tool for calculating a moveable feast day is the book The Comprehensive Genealogical Feast Day Calendar by Inger M. Bukke, Peer K. Kristensen, and Finn A. Thomsen. (FHL Library call number 529.44 C738)

Calendars vary by Religion, Date, and German state
All of Germany used had switched to using the Gregorian calendar by 1700 when 19 February 1700 on the Julian Calendar became 1 March on the Gregorian Calendar for Protestant Germany.

Certain German Catholic states changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calender on earlier dates. They are:


 * Bishopric of Augsburg (Bavaria) 1583: February 14 Julian became 24 February 24 Gregorian
 * Silesia and Lausitz 1584 January 13 Julian became January 23 Gregorian
 * Westphalia 1583: July 2 Julian became July 12 Gregorian
 * Bishopric of Paderborn
 * Duchy of Prussia
 * Pfalz-Neuburg

During this transition of information, some of the following links are to pages entiled "Denmark: Moveable Feast Days." When this happens, be assured that the calendar also applies to Germany.