Having a successful Christmas feast seems like a real challenge in 2021. Differences in opinion can quickly escalate into heated holiday arguments. Here's a how-to guide focusing on German Christmas traditions.
Police say thieves made off with part of the copper roof of the Victory Column in Berlin. Located in Tiergarten, the theft was discovered by workmen sent by the district office.
German archive documents pandemic for posterity
Christmas without collections
Fundraising will be a big problem this year for anyone trying to do it face-to-face: There are no benefit concerts and only a handful of people at Christmas church services. We calculate that donations from Christmas collections, which make up half our income, will decrease by several million euros, estimates Michael Heinz, director of Adveniat, a German Catholic relief organization which works in Latin America.
The need grows
At the same time, the need for donations and voluntary work is now extraordinarily high. In the past eight months, many of our project partners have approached us saying they need medicines, oxygen tanks, toiletries and even groceries, Heinz reports. In response, the organization carried out 427 coronavirus emergency projects, worth €7.3 million euros ($8.9 million).
Coronavirus pastoral care: Between Christmas spirit and end-of-life care
Clergy can bring comfort to the sick and dying, even in hospital COVID wards. One of them is Catholic priest Franz Eisenmann, from a small village in Bavaria.
Franz Eisenmann puts on a gown and ties it at his waist, then a protective plastic cover at the front, which a helper ties up behind his back. A hood, Perspex glasses, a FFP2 virus-filtering mask over his nose and mouth. And gloves. Two pairs of gloves, one over the other, the 55-year-old says.
He calmly describes the preparation it takes before he is allowed to step through the airlock and enter the COVID-19 ward of the hospital in Mühldorf am Inn.