I am hearing the term "Handwerkerferien" for the first time. What does it mean and how long do they last? Do they affect all trades? I always thought that autumn/winter are the vacation periods in construction.
You can find the dates for the Handwerkerferien at the local chamber of crafts. They are usually right in the middle of the summer holidays for 3 weeks. Of course, a company does not have to stick to that, but because a) many trades depend on each other and b) craftsmen want to go on summer vacation with their families, they are quite widespread. (At least here in the south, maybe it’s different in the east?) And even if companies don’t completely close, not much gets done when only 2-3 out of 10 people are around.