Greetings from berlin and a warm welcome to our latest edition coming at you this time with the following top stories. Sparkling cheer a german couple and their annual christmas light extravaganza. Booming business the art market is making more and more revenue on online auction. And festive treats in search of german christmas specialties we visit the city of. Well its already an age old tradition in north america where people love to brighten up their homes for the Christmas Season with all manner of lights and sparkling or even very humorous decorations on meanwhile here in germany the custom has also caught on in homes all across the countryside are now lighting up with garlands of light but one house in particular in color in lower saxony gets brighter every single year its the biggest christmas light extravaganza in the country and we visited roll folks to see how and why he doesnt. Why. Its not just tiny tots whose eyes are all aglow when big and small gather on the first weekend of the advent season to watch the lights go on. Five hundred thirty thousand of them in germanys biggest christmas light display on a private house and thats a record. Was sort of it youre just overwhelmed by all the lights as it could no way i could do that but i have problems just getting one string of lights up its fantastic when you have it thats why i never imagined it like this you know it was like this made its just perfect not some Christmas Market but in a deal like little display perfect for children i think you know. The man who attracts christmas mummers to column lower saxony every year is called fucked the pensioner loves his hobby. Well i always just jump for joy when it all comes together i its that week of happiness especially when it gives people joy and they go oh well i think thats the best part of it the worst thing that can happen is if it starts raining. And then i flip the switch on the remote it may go because you know then of course the people all all go. Luckily that rarely happens months of work have gone into the extraordinary christmas display. Close wife now i mean supports his passion for Christmas Lights. She is in charge of the decorations in the house she decides how it gets done their work and. If well you know this passion gives him a lots of energy and happiness. Well for designs every aspect of his christmas might extravaganza himself it all started in one thousand nine hundred nine when the couple visited their son in the United States houses all around were covered with lights. And whole never seen anything like it in every house it was more beautiful than the last at the front yards had moving reindeer and santa claus is on them and we said lets do this at all im just for us. Every year it got to be a little more but she never thought it could take on these dimensions. The yuletide spectacle now involves a massive amount of effort and expense to have it ready in time the seventy year old retiree has to begin stringing the four point three kilometers of cords in the summer. With this winter predicted to be a wet one hes had a special high voltage line put in. The movie by the blow dried at least once a week but the whole food. All the creations have to be in working order by the day of the premiere. And you learn from little disasters for instance i always used to toss the nets over the rhododendrons and then i couldnt get some of them down in the spring without tearing up. So he set up a series of twisted wire arches. The. Well there is someone manageable you can hardly even move. And he doesnt have any other hobby hes put his heart in as i say and i let him know. Some people never had a childhood so they have to make up for it some time. This year old his especially proud of his new electric train. Yeah there is a bit of child in me. He estimates that he spent around one hundred fifty thousand euros on the decorations so far the folks have to pay some three thousand euros just for the extra electricity they use in december a little private Christmas Market helps to pay for it all that the elite those the xian the base and its i hope this year well see even more shining faces thats the whole point of doing this does is in that. I had to get the. They have up to five hundred spectators every week and his wife sells mulled wine and sausages while both checks the lights to make sure theyre all working and he keeps coming up with new ideas that come as long as my wife joins in and i just cant stop. Their leg and well keep doing this as long as were able we really enjoy it yeah its not just to make me happy but above all the people who come here on a pretty or. A couple have been married for forty two years now for seventeen of them theyve been lighting up the holiday season. Im a they keep shining for many years to come but we continue now with a look at the other lifestyle highlights from berlin and beyond. That the drones Champions League finals last weekend in berlin the worlds top professionals showed off their flying finesse the pilots steered their aircraft by Remote Control using Virtual Reality headset the drones reached speeds of up to one hundred forty kilometers an hour as they raced through an Obstacle Course in a former Railway Station there was a hundred thousand euros in prize money up for grabs this years top drone pilots who are a british team. B s n motor show is underway its europes most important trade fair for tuning motorsports and vintage cars more than. Five hundred exhibitors are displaying their latest products in the u. S. And for example the rinse speed away says the soap driving prototype from switzerland even has a miniature garden onboard. Spectacular is the jet powered school bus. Blastoff for education. The four chill be f one fifty raptor is making its german debut. And if thats not enough theres lots of vintage cars and Live Performances the s. And motor show runs until december tenth. Friends of ice cold water have opened up the winter season in the polish city of kona they started out with some warm up exercises in christmas costumes but once theyd worked up a sweat they plunged into four degrees celsius cold water. If you hesitate to imitate them for the sudden drop in temperature is actually good for you because it stimulates the immune system. Once upon a time the highlight of british christine was the sunday roast with homemade yorkshire pudding something that mothers and grandmothers of course always did best and these days while the interest in home cooking in britain has never been higher people people are also more eager than ever to try things that they might not cook on their own which is why the concept of the we find food network has really taken off. Outside its and conspicuous tourist house and lemington english inside its a restaurant serving exotic cuisine a minor revolution in gastronomy eating out and in calf duttons welcoming eleven guests she made her hobby her profession for a year or so shes been cooking for people mostly strangers in her own home and trying to keep things as informed as possible and so hopefully people come in and feel quite quickly and sort of home away from home. And then they can just relax and chat with the other people who havent enjoyed it. For the equivalent of about thirty euros patrons can reserve a place at duttons table online shes a member of we find food a site that connects cooks with diners looking to discover some new food and meet new people. My personal mission is there wherever i am in the world to find a way for a host to feed me that is my past my ambition and weve found something that. Took news quite professional by now even if occasionally slightly stressed it takes some time for eleven strangers to warm up to each other they have to bring their own wine or beer this is tied day the first course is spicy crab cakes. Its like a combination of eating at home but not having the hassle i needs i mean people the chef is also the waiter next up is the main course chicken curry cut the ice is broken the guests are very happy and. We continue to treat and prevent an absolutely delicious third and enjoy some of the people. By the time the pineapple mango foam appears some of the guests have become friends phone numbers are exchanged strangers know more the chef is satisfied and glad she quit her office job this is a social network that connects through the stomach the recipe for success good food and good company. Well anyone whos got real money to burn these days is well advised to invest in art as the art market sees prices for artworks going simply through the roof just last month leonardo da vincis salvatore monday went for a record breaking four hundred and fifty Million Dollars thats nearly three hundred Million Euros and the market for contemporary art is also booming cashing in on all of this is the lead auction house in cologne where this very past weekend three works by get hot rishta the worlds most expensive living artist just went under the hammer. And thats why in the us with six hundred thirty two front get out of the. Human. Front ones its a toss up switched off from when i switched off. The atmosphere is crackling at this auction of contemporary art better auctioneer is among the objects going under the hammer are several works by german painter. Theres nothing more exciting in the life of an auctioneer than the day of the auction itself it always brings surprises who will bet on what how why will they go. Kilian j fun zelda nick has been one of the directors of germanys largest auction house since twenty twelve his work begins long before the auction itself it takes months to prepare an auction one of the most important aspects is staying in touch with collectors potential buyers and art sellers option house has been in business since one thousand forty five its the oldest family run auction firm in the world. Some paintings weve optioned off two or three times already say in one thousand nine hundred seventy five and twenty seventeen the trust that weve built up over generations is naturally something you cant buy with money. Dollars into the fore front of annoyance of dogs and were not for dogs. Were not thousands and the board any more than one hundred five thousand. Im more than. A buyer paid one hundred five thousand euros for a book of illustrations by gary hart and i stop its one of the german artists earliest works now eighty five years old has been experimenting with various genres of painting since the one nine hundred sixty s. Even minor works by him fetch six figure sums playstyle is the star of the art market among all Living Artists his works command the highest prices the online database arsenate says that all told us works have earned more than eight hundred Million Euros in auction in two thousand and fifteen his abstract image sold for more than forty million alone. Your heart of a star is a fascinating artist its no accident that his work sets new price records and is unbelievably popular among collectors. Was a title and for fun. But six hundred thirty three then was it begin with six on the front dollars. Collectors can also bid for works that led parents auctions online the auctions are live streamed and bidding is in real time the art market is Going Digital roughly twelve percent of its business in two thousand and sixteen was on the internet thats more than three billion euros an increase of fifteen percent from the Previous Year collectors like from berlin appreciate the advantages of digitalisation the forty five year old himself founded an art collectors platform called independent collectors to make private collections more accessible. And the collecting has a lot to do with discovery so for collectors its fantastic that its now so easy to get up to date information. That at the same time its tough to keep track of all the influences and. Russians and information. The challenge today is to find your away and keep a balance. Let pass is also trying to unite art collectors from all over the world in an Online Community one task is to convince collectors to bid on where they may never have seen in real life lets use his videos in which experts introduce works of art. And i think there are situations in which serious collectors can buy art works theyve never seen before. But mostly you should stick to only art by artists whose work as a whole you know well. So despite at least as popularity no online collectors bid today on his tate a landscape the painting goes to a better who is present in the auction hall. Sold for seven hundred fifty thousand. Thank you ouch well for your remarks extra tour were now fulfilling a wish from one of our viewers in costa Rica Jenny Molina wrote in to us from san jose that she wanted to visit some of switzerland because her country is interesting they refer to as the switzerland of Central America well not far from Lake Constance so in the north east of switzerland is the city of gallon and during the advent season they lights let out all of the stops there and from the old town that sparkles with garlands of lights the winter certainly looks a lot less tree. In winter st gallen is a wonderland. The medieval abbey of st god complex has been a unesco World Heritage site since one thousand nine hundred three. It includes an opposing baroque cathedral. In the years six twelve irish monk st founded hermitage on the site of modern st gallen. Goggles yeah the time people believe that the heart of their lives on earth were the more pitiful heaven would be im saying to go also believe this. He stayed here a place with an altitude of seven hundred meters because when he first arrived he stumbled and saw it as a sign from god he was collecting wood to make a fire when a brown bear approached him sank all spoke to him and said in the name of god go and fetch me more wood for my fire and he did. The reformation arrived in st gallen in fifteen twenty seven. Conflict between catholics and protestants was rife a ten meter high wall was erected to separate the abbey from the time. The began to show all the crowded the town into two it was half catholic half protestant it stood there until eight hundred twenty which is when the town became a center of the textiles industry famous for embroidery then the wall was taken down among the infidel textiles brought affluence to st gallon by nineteen jan in the region was the worlds leading exporter of embroidered goods today fashion brands from chanel to do your and armani still use a gallon lace the local Textiles Museum documents the history of the industry. I think gallant is proud of its heritage the Abbey Library is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world that houses over two thousand manuscripts dating back to the eighth through the fifteenth century. Including the worlds oldest music manuscript which dates back to the ninth century. Economy so no other library in europe has been preserved in such entirety. Its gems include very early fragments of the latin bible. A manuscript of the nibelungen a very famous piece as well as early german literature. As christmas approaches another attraction in st gallen is chocolate. This is milk chocolate with gingerbread spices and this year is quality chocolate with almond slivers and orange essence. The nearby countries are is also marking the festive season. Our christmas gingerbread is filled with almond moose and decorated with christmas garnishing it comes in various sizes. And gardens Christmas Lights are legendary a total of seven hundred of them are switched on ahead of the first advent. Of. The stars show st gallon at its best. Great mood lovely atmosphere. This is what christmas is all about christmas and st gallon straight out of the story books. Well that story continues because of course during the Christmas Season in germany theres also a wealth of Christmas Markets to visit here and youd be hard done even to visit all of the best ones which usually have their own signature treats all the Christmas Market in in the furthermost western tip of germany is definitely a must being famous not only for its cathedral but also for a special kind of gingerbread thats known as a printer and you can only find the real thing in itself is the recipe. Is a carefully guarded secret and so its first on our list of goodies in this weeks. Auctions Christmas Market lies in the heart of the Historic Old Town around the city home more than half the stalls sell Christmas Decorations and gifts but there are also plenty of cullen area tractions like hearty savory food and mulled wine and punch also sweet gingerbread pastry and often specialty ochsner print on as theyre called here as a giant gingerbread man are the Star Attraction of its goodman was liven up we have to try the spice flavored printer i know the normal ones from home but the ones with spices are really Something Special with nice stone lights darkness mulled wine and something tasty to eat just like for me the essence of a Christmas Market. This is what the market looks like during the day in the Center City Hall built on the foundations of charlemagnes palace. The cut off square and cathedral are situated south of city hall the unesco listed building is the citys most famous landmark. The noblest bakery operates one of the one hundred fifty stalls it has been producing gingerbread according to the original recipe since one thousand and fifty eight. Nowadays they also come with nuts all mens chocolate fondue and icing or even in the shape of charlemagne. Just as on potted on this special thing about our kind of print one is that they have to be made with enough and city limits that has to do with rules which exist in germany linking the product to its geographical origin that means the designation of origin is or checked it really goes on. At the back of the stand your shorter is demonstrating. How to make bits and their occupant one filled with mars a pan. The exact recipe is a carefully guarded secret but the brown dough includes flour and baking powder and three different kinds of sugar syrup icing sugar and rock sugar and spices of course and a seed cloves coriander cinnamon and all spice also known as come into each baker has his or her own special mixture next the dough has to be rolled out. But its not the sort of in the traditional normal print came for a long time because they dont include any ingredients that can spoil my cakes cream milk or butter mood then. After fourteen minutes in the oven the prints are ready and can be decorated with knots or covered with chocolate what is this called clinton. Clinton ok its nice i think its got some knots in it and i thought its a chocolate but its a mix of a chocolate and Something Else its nice we have to simulate a different. Story its like this one and so do i and how the one and the cinema braver so we like it. Not my style its like two christmas days. If the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Market is too much for you you can visit often cathedral. The feeling that they find it really quaint here this cozy old town and they like the fact that theres no trashy stuff and none of the bustle of a Christmas Fair so. And thats what makes the trip to often during the advent season so popular with visitors they can experience a traditional Christmas Market and im historic city. Well now that our taste buds are well primed we want to know which treats get you into the Christmas Spirit is it gingerbread or fruit cake or even a piping hot glass of mulled wine whatever it might be send us a picture of your favorite Christmas Tree and you can find details of how to do that on our website and as a thanks for your feedback one lucky viewer will get our specially designed your max watch so be sure to get in on the action and with that it is time for us to sign off so all the best and until next time to spawn to meet us the. Next time on your own might. Be i was on his calling in and over the famous rain forest are now worth three hundred sixty degree panoramas the largest of its kind in the world artists c. C. Created this three thousand five hundred square meter illusion by combining thirty thousand photographs of virtual amazon rain forest next time on your own facts. Ok. Make your smart t. V. The smarter with the d. W. Force more of. What you want when you want it up to date extraordinary. And you decide what songs find out more than double dog come smart to. Learn german with d w any time any place. Whether with jojo and her friends. Expected it. Or with friends all over the world online and interactive. German to go and. Learn german for free with d w. D w true diversity. Where the world of science is at home in many languages. On top of programming going there you know. That with us our innovations magazine for in asia. Every week and always looking to the future fund d w dot com science and research for asia. Your home life because of persecution in the city. Starting from scratch in an unfamiliar country five people who found a new home in a foreign land. With their stories books and music theyve built bridges to the past and the future. After the escape starting december seventeenth on d w. Five. I think t twenty going to get the cut off in your. Toes and i make us feel im telling the famous potato. This is deja vu news live from berlin and protests on the streets of kiev after a dramatic escape Police Arrest former georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili but are forced to vary him by