Good Friday is considered a “quiet” holiday: Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, therefore Good Friday is considered a day of mourning. In the holiday law is it[called:
“On Good Friday and on Remembrance Day (Sunday before the 1st Advent) the following are prohibited:
- public events in rooms with bar service that go beyond bar and dining operations;
- other public events, insofar as they do not serve to honor the holiday or serve a greater interest in art, science or popular education;
- public sporting events on Good Friday throughout the day, on Remembrance Day until 1 p.m.
In addition to the dance ban in force in many federal states, cinema and TV screenings of around 700 films are also banned in Germany because they “fear an injury to religious and moral sensibilities.” Most of the time it involves depictions of violence or sex – or both. Often, however, the film distributor has simply not submitted an application for public holiday release. Then the film is considered “not holiday-free”. A subsequent check costs and is apparently too expensive for many rental companies – and the ban on Good Friday is too much to bear.
The films include some horror and action classics, but also more bizarre flicks. Click through.
Sources: “FSK.de” on the “quiet holidays”, List of films not released on public holidays (until 2015) on “FSK.de”.