Christmas bonus and the German pension: what exists and what does not

There is no Christmas bonus (Weihnachtsgeld) with the German statutory pension. The pension insurance pays twelve monthly pensions a year, each on the last bank business day of the month as section 118 of Social Code Book VI requires; Book VI provides for no thirteenth payment or December supplement. The December 2026 pension therefore only arrives on 31 December 2026, New Year's Eve, not before the holidays. In 2027 it is 31 December 2027. The only regular change in the amount during the year is the adjustment on 1 July under section 65; in 2026 pensions rose by 4.24 per cent. Benefits that do not come from the statutory pension insurance can differ: whether a company pension, a supplementary scheme or a civil service pension has a special payment depends on their own rules. If you also receive basic income support in old age, the social welfare office pays it on its own schedule.