See 67.1–3 (pp. 201–4) on thanking for responding to good wishes.
66.8 Celebrations
(a) Along with herzlichen Glückwunsch zu... (see 66.7a–b on ‘Congratulating’),
alles Gute zu... is the most common means of wishing someone well on a personal
celebration, such as a birthday or anniversary:Alles Gute zum (60.) Geburtstag.
Best wishes on/All the best for your (60th) birthday.Alles Gute zum Namenstag.
Best wishes on your name day/Saint’s day.Zu eurer Hochzeit wünsche ich (euch) alles Gute/viel Glück.
I wish you all the best/good luck on your wedding day.A more formal greeting for this last example, such as might appear on a card,
would be:Dem glücklichen Paar viel Freude am Hochzeitstag und für das
Leben zu zweit.
Much joy to the happy couple on their wedding day and in their (future)
life together.(b) Good wishes for public holidays of any kind can be conveyed by:Schöne Feiertage!/Schönen Feiertag!
Enjoy the/Have a good holiday.NOTE Holidays spent away from home would normally elicit the wish Schönen Urlaub! ‘Have
a good holiday’, while for longer holidays away from, say, school, you could wish someone
Schöne Ferien!(c) At Christmas one of the following would be appropriate either in spoken or written
German:Frohe/Fröhliche/Gesegnete Weihnachten!
Merry/Happy/Blessed Christmas.Frohes Weihnachtsfest!/Frohes Fest!
Merry Christmas.(d) At New Year the most idiomatic greeting is Guten Rutsch (ins neue Jahr)!, meaning
literally ‘have a good slide into the new year’. Other possibilities are:Ein Glückliches Neues Jahr!/(Ein) Gutes Neues Jahr!
Happy New Year.Frohes/Glückliches Neujahr!
Happy New Year.(Frohe Weihnachten) und die besten Wünsche zum Neuen Jahr!
(Merry Christmas) and best wishes for the new year.66
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