Summer vacation is coming to an end. It doesn’t happen all at once and the more southern cities of Stuttgart and München are always the last, ending on September 9 and 11, respectively Those are the Bundesländer of Baden Würtemberg and Bayern. Meanwhile, Nordrhein-Westfallen, where Cologne/Köln is located has been back in business since the beginning of August, and Leipzig, which is in Sachsen, should be back in business, having finished their summer vacation last week on Wednesday
Hamburg ends their Ferien this week on the 23rd. I wonder if they’ll really be back to work on Thursday or will start up in earnest on Monday the 28th. Berlin, meanwhile, will certainly be back to work on Monday the 28th, having had their last day of Sommerferien on Friday.
Most theaters don’t start rehearsing until September and begin their seasons later that month or in October, but Cologne/Köln has been at it since mid-August, since NRW this year had the earliest vacation, starting June 22. The dates rotate, and next year NRW (Nordrhein-Westfafallen) won’t begin their summer vacation until July 8. It’s complicated but makes sense since you wouldn’t want the whole country going on vacation all at once.