Christmas houses shine with thousands of lights

Advent season - Christmas houses shine with thousands of lights

Dirk van Acken has spent weeks changing light bulbs, dusting each Christmas tree ball individually and stocking up on mulled wine - now the season is back on in his Christmas house in Oberhausen. The 45-year-old geriatric nurse says he won't be able to get out of his dark red Santa Claus costume with its long white beard until December 23.

Christmas madness with a total of three snow cannons in front of and behind the terraced house, an estimated 70,000 lights and Christmas music from the internet on a continuous loop - seven days a week, without a break. Other people in Germany also bring joy to thousands of visitors with Christmas houses.

The Christmas house is prepared for months

Anyone approaching van Acken's home with the large inflatable snowman at the entrance can see the lights from afar. Inside, there is a veritable frenzy of decorations: nutcrackers, reindeer, 44 illuminated mini Christmas houses on the living room table, countless figures and Christmas knick-knacks of all kinds fill the 94-square-metre apartment - including the terrace, garden, bathroom and kitchen. Cooking is no longer possible. Van Acken makes do with a deep-fat fryer and the barbecue in the garden. A Santa Claus projected onto the tiles beckons from the toilet.

"Preparations have been underway since September. It's becoming more and more of a major project," says van Acken. The " Oberhausen Christmas House" is now listed as a location on Google. More and more visitors are coming - 80 to 120 per evening during the week, and significantly more at the weekend. On one evening between 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m., 360 people pushed their way through the packed apartment.

If at all possible, Van Acken personally greets every visitor at the door in a Santa Claus costume. The children get a chocolate lolly and can fish for a soft toy from the big sack. Adults can drink a mulled wine at the bar in the garden and enjoy a grilled sausage - all for free, donations are welcome.

What follows: a hefty electricity bill

The man from Oberhausen goes all out for his visitors: this year, he bought 40 crates of Pilsner, 300 liters of mulled wine, over 100 liters of children's punch and 20 to 25 bottles of Amaretto before the start of the season. At the weekend, 150 to 200 sausages go through, he says. And he spent 400 euros on batteries for all the Christmas lights, plus a hefty electricity bill at the end of the winter. All in all, he adds up to several thousand euros every year, he says.

What drives the 45-year-old so much that he even changed employers because his old boss didn't want to give him four weeks off in a row before Christmas? "I see this primarily as a social project," he says. Many visitors have little money and are happy about the free mulled wine. He collects food donations and money for an animal shelter. Old people often come, but also families with children. When he shakes his "magic Santa ball" for the little ones and they are allowed to choose an extra soft toy, the children beam at him.

Family collects donations for a good cause with a light show

In Hohenlinden, Bavaria, the Voss family is collecting donations for the Friends of the German Heart Center in Munich with a Christmas show at their house. The family's eldest daughter was born with a heart defect and had to be operated on several times by the experts.

More than 30,000 lights at the family's home in the greater Munich area are now programmed to dance in time to pieces of music. "We have 15 songs in our repertoire that are played," explains homeowner Sebastian Voß. Visitors can set the show in motion themselves: "There's a little button on the fence. If you press it, the next song is played." Most recently, around 4000 euros in donations were collected each year.

Josef Glogger from Balzhausen in Swabia also decorates his house year after year to collect donations. He gives the money to the university hospital in Ulm, where his wife is being treated for cancer. "Last year I passed on 6,000 euros," he reports.

Ice landscape and stories

The Christmas house in Erdmannhausen (Baden-Württemberg) with its 300 figures and 90,000 LEDs tells stories. "My wife always comes up with something new," says Andreas Niehues-Zimmermann, who lives there. For example, a polar bear in armor is reminiscent of the film "The Golden Compass".

In Lichtenstein, a good hour's drive away, an ice landscape takes center stage at the Christmas house. The glowing splendor can be admired until January 1 and between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. "We also have a six-metre-high Christmas tree," says Jörg Meißel, who has been decorating his house with dozens of Christmas figures for more than ten years. Last year, this fun cost him around 330 euros on his electricity bill.

Peaceful Christmas fairyland in the Spreewald

Gisela Liebsch and Gerd Mörl have been transforming their farm in the Spreewald village of Straupitz into a peaceful Christmas wonderland with warm lights for 26 years. During Advent, 300 figures stand between the fir branches laid out, with another 100 in the carport. Some sit on sledges, others are attached to trees, in the fir greenery and on the façade of the house.

When dusk sets in from 3.30 pm, the lights in the Straupitz Christmas garden shine in warm yellow - until 7.30 pm. It starts this Saturday. The couple hardly ever use LED lamps for the lighting. They are too bright, they both explain. They accept that old, conventional light bulbs consume more electricity. "We don't smoke, we don't have a pet, I cut my husband's hair alone, everyone spends their money somewhere else, we just do it," says Gisela Liebsch about the family hobby.

The couple have long been a local celebrity with their "Christmas house" in the Spreewald village. Gisela Liebsch says that families and children have been asking for weeks in advance when it will start. In the meantime, the couple's new neighbor has also been inspired by the Christmas lights and decorates his house. "It's a bit contagious," she believes. Even the village no longer looks as dreary as it used to, now there are more lights in the front gardens.