Peace Festival in Germany

The Augsburg Peace Festival in Germany is celebrated on August 8 each year. It commemorates the Protestants' loss of religious freedom in the city of Augsburg in 1629. It also celebrates the implementation of the Peace of Westphalia. This restored Protestants' religious freedom. Is a public holiday in Augsburg in the German state of Bavaria.

The Augsburg Peace Festival is annually held in the city of Augsburg in Germany (town pictured above). ©iStockphoto.com/Loic Bernard

What do people do?

There is a special church service for members of all Christian faiths in Augsburg on August 8 each year. There is also a festive market in the city and a competition for school children to create art representing "peace". Once every three years, Augsburg’s mayor announces the Augsburg Peace Prize winner.

Public life

The Augsburg Peace Festival is a public holiday in Augsburg. Post offices, banks, most stores and other businesses are closed in Augusburg on the day. Public transport services may run as usual, a reduced service or no service depending on where one lives and where they want to travel. This day is not a public holiday in the rest of Germany.

Background

The Augsburg Declaration of Religious Freedom guaranteed Protestants the right to practice their faith in the city of Augsburg in 1555. However, Protestants were banned from practicing their faith in the city on August 8, 1629. The Peace of Westphalia reinstated the Augsburg Declaration of Religious Freedom in 1648.

The first Augsburg Peace Festival was held on August 8, 1650. Between 1651 and 1739, the city marked the occasion by presenting the city's children with picture books illustrated with etchings. The Augsburg Peace Festival has enjoyed special protection in German law since 1950.

The first Augsburg Peace Prize was awarded in 1985 and it has been awarded every three years since then. However, the prize for 2006 was brought forward to 2005 to mark the 450th anniversary of the Augsburg Declaration of Religious Freedom. The prize's recipients have played an important role to stimulate and facilitate interfaith dialogue. Since 2005, the Augsburg Peace Festival plays a central role in the interfaith "Pax" discussions held each year at the Augsburg Round Table of Religions.

Peace Festival Observances

Other holidays in August 2012 in Germany

• Assumption of Mary ―Wednesday, August 15, 2012