Switzerland (Obwalden) : public and bank holidays, closure of banks, stock exchanges, school vacations

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Culture :

Catholic or protestant : The First Council of Nicaea (a gathering of bishops in the early days of Christianity) wanted to find a day to commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This commemoration had to be linked to Jewish holiday traditions, since the last supper of Christ was believed to be a Jewish Passover meal. But the Jewish calendar is based on lunar and solar cycles, so the Easter celebration had to follow the same calendar.

Culture : This ban applies to all major religious celebrations, but does not apply in homes

Catholic or protestant : In the year 325, the Council of Nicée determined a date fo Easter. Full Moon would fall the 14th day of a moon month (1). Easter would be marked by the dominical letter(2)and the epactus(3). With the establishment of the equinox ne variatur on March 21, algorithms where elaborated to attribuate a date for Easter whatever the year.
Time between two consecutive new moons: 20 days 12 hours 44 minutes 2.8 - Gives a letter code for the year's calendar Age of the moon on January 1st, minus one unity, 0 being the new moon's age.

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Catholic or protestant : Forty days after Easter, always on a Thursday. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared before his disciples and gathered them to tell them to baptize and spread the good word. He then ascended to heaven on a cloud.

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Catholic or protestant : Not a paid holiday

Culture : This ban applies to all major religious celebrations, but does not apply in homes

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Catholic : Commemorates the Last supper. Pope Urban IV ordered the observance of such a feast in 1264, and in the following century it became universal in the Western Church. For six hundred years that feast was observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, but in 1970 the new Roman Missal, while retaining that day for some countries, provided that in others the feast be observed on the Sunday after Trinity.

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Culture : This ban applies to all major religious celebrations, but does not apply in homes

Secular holiday : Instaured at the end of the XIX century. The date refers to an agreement made at the beginning of August 1291 between Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden. Traditional observance includes bonfires on the the mountains and celebrations in the communities, occasions for patriotic speeches. Modern observance, fostered by the Tourist offices, include fireworks.

Catholic : The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is the dogma so far defined by the Church. The definition was made by Pope Pius XII on 1st November 1950. The Pope proclaimed: We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

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Secular holiday : Nicholas of Flüe (1417-1487) was a farmer from Sachseln and the father of ten children before he decided to go and live as a hermit in the Ranft gorge. During his lifetime he already gained a reputation as a pious and wise man, even as a living saint. His highly valued advice was sought by simple peasants, noblemen, rulers and politicians alike. Not long after the death of 'Brother Klaus', as he was widely known, the first pilgrimages were made to Sachseln and the Ranft gorge, and the first biographies and accounts of pilgrimages appeared. Following his beatification by the Vatican in 1649, an annual Brother Klaus festival was introduced to mark the anniversary of his death

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