The Christmas Angels - a festive cabaret comedy by Thomas Reis, directed by Joe Knipp, virtuously performed by: CHARLOTTE WELLING and ANNA MÖBUS

THE CHRISTMAS ANGELS
naughty, sharp and *indescribably female

Looking forward to Christmas? Afraid of your gifts and claustrophobic family quarantine? Home sweet home. Happiness alone. Either, or! Is the silent night not loud enough for you? Then you've come to the right place.
Charlotte Welling and Anna Möbus, not only two newly baked full-blooded cabaret artists fresh from the Christmas bakery, but also two shameless as well as winged year-end figures, also known in Christian terminology as angels. Welling and Möbus, two bewitching graces of comedy, joyfully and mercilessly present the most unvarnished truth about Christmas since mascara was invented.

The angels juggle the Christmas bauble and play everything: Santas and Christmas women, God and Goddess, Mary and Joseph, Jesus and his sister Jesusi, Erwin and Lise-Lotte, Ox and Donkey, Shepherd and Innkeeper, Monks and Monastery Desecrators, Lama and Tinsel – they all find a place here.
Two lucid Arch-Bitches of the good news proclaim heavenly peace and launch a satirical frontal attack on the festival of love. Oh, you Joyful, because comedy can hardly be more cheerful, subversive, and grotesque.
Learn all about the terrible holy family. The immaculate conception, was it the Holy Spirit or the Devil of Spots? Was Mary really that innocent? Was Joseph just a sandal salesman and Jesus a Waldorf student? Why did redemption begin with a tax audit? Is the Bible the mother of all soap operas? Who triggered the big bang? Who ladled the primordial soup? Were there assistant creators? The Christmas Angels know more, they were there.
The probably funniest Christmas story since Christmas stories exist, bitter, sweet, and full of energy.
The God of Love is horrified, the audience is thrilled, and the press rejoices: "a heavenly delight" judges the Bethlehem paper, and the Nazareth Echo writes: "Two angelic elves as sweet little devils, more versatile than the body of Christ itself." The Morning Star headlines: "Two celestial bodies in the firmament of cabaret, simply divine and devilishly good."
The two holy queens from the Occident rock the stable and hijack the crib. The tree is on fire, punchlines are ignited, hearts laugh. Contemplation has never been this funny.
Long-awaited, it has finally succeeded, the fusion of shrill comedy, intelligent religious satire, sharp cabaret, and heartwarming nonsense. In about 2376 concise roles, the two highly consumer-critical Christmas Angels, Welling and Möbus, present not only scenes from the everyday life of the Christian Topcast but also delightful skits about the holiday.
If your Christmas blessing is askew, Welling and Möbus will set it right. Don't miss out on this pleasure.

In close collaboration with their author, Thomas Reis, and their director, Joe Knipp, another cabaret comedy is in the works, working title: Two Women and a Refrigerator - Do men really make women happy? This cabaret comedy will also soon be experienced by the audience in this theater.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

As in the last two seasons, director Dr. phil. Christof Wahlefeld and musician Jan Reinelt will invite all residents of Schweinfurt to sing out loud and read Christmas stories together live at the piano.

The cosmopolitan culture villa at Hochfeld will transform into a singing and ringing temple of Christmas joy with “O du fröhliche,” “Stille Nacht,” and “O Tannenbaum”! Mulled wine, cocoa, and cookies should of course not be missing, as alongside the most beautiful, self-sung Christmas carols, humorous stories and reflective texts will also be heard.

with Jan Reinelt and director Dr. phil. Christof Wahlefeld

Museum Otto Schäfer

Recommended age: from 12 years
Duration: approx. 1 hour, 30 minutes

by Frank Steuerwald and Eberhard Streul

The King and Queen have finally had a child! Now there will be a big christening party for the little princess. But one fairy is not invited and seeks revenge with an evil prophecy: on her 16th birthday, Röschen pricks herself on a poisoned spindle and falls into a hundred-year sleep.
100 years later we meet the great-grandson of the prince, to whom Sleeping Beauty was once engaged, and the evil fairy is back as well. She wreaks havoc as a modern businesswoman. And overall, the world has become strange: cars drive around without drivers, people hold small black boxes to their ears or in front of their noses, cut holes in their pants, and tattoo themselves like pirates...
Will things go well in this crazy world, between the modern prince and Sleeping Beauty who finally awakens after his kiss?

Music: Frank Steuerwald
Book and Direction: Eberhard Streul
A performance by Musikbühne Mannheim.

"Children and parents laugh and are carried away by the lively music. The audience is amused as the great-grandson explains artificial intelligence and the voice assistant to the royal couple. For this and for the entire production, there was much applause from the audience. Everything was just right; costumes, stage design, and singing." (Odenwälder Zeitung March 2023)

Children: €7 / Adults: €12

The main building of the State Kunsthalle Karlsruhe is closed for extensive renovation. However, significant parts of the collection are now visible to the public again – as guests at the ZKM | Karlsruhe.

The Kunsthalle showcases paintings and sculptures spanning from the late Middle Ages to the present on around 2000 sqm – a cross-section of the collection featuring popular masterpieces by Matthias Grünewald and Hans Baldung Grien, by Rembrandt, Rubens, and Chardin, by Cézanne, Gauguin, and Beckmann, Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Joan Miró, as well as works by Gerhard Richter, Pia Fries, and Karin Sander.

Eight Classical Concerts

Tickets may still be available at local box offices or at the door.

Choir of the Frauenkirche
Conducted by Frauenkirchen Kantor Matthias Grünert

Like no other festival, the Christmas season is
connected with singing, and this includes not only
the great Christmas oratorios and cantatas, but also
the simpler and more touching motets and chorale
settings. Carried on by composers such as Johann
Sebastian Bach and Max Reger, they often trace back
to folk songs or were conversely brought from the
church into families to celebrate the arrival of the
Savior. The choir of the Frauenkirche, led by
Frauenkirchen Kantor Matthias Grünert, invites you
to this celebration accompanied by Frauenkirchen
organist Samuel Kummer.

Doors open: 7:00 PM

Welcome to the realm of knowledge in the Baroque era: Stepping onto creaking floorboards into the quiet grandeur of our historical library hall, one is immediately enveloped by the collective knowledge of the Early Modern period. Like stage sets in a Baroque theater, the original bookshelves jut into the space, housing around 50,000 books from all fields of knowledge. Behind unassuming book spines lie remarkable treasures, such as the first German Bible printed in America.

At the end of the 17th century, the orphanage's library was established as one of the first public libraries in Germany. Primarily through donations, book exchanges, and their own publications, the library grew so rapidly that within a few years, it was comparable to significant German university libraries. In 1728, it received its own building, which is considered the oldest surviving secular library structure in Germany. Not only in recent times has the library been visited by guests and researchers from around the world: Albrecht von Haller, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all admired its bibliophilic treasures. We present a selection of them for you in rotating cabinet exhibitions in the former reading room of the library.

10 am - 5 pm

The Art and Natural History Chamber is considered the oldest German museum room. It was established by August Hermann Francke for educational purposes and is now once again set up according to the original museum concept of the 18th century in its historical location in the attic of the Historical Orphanage.

Eighteen richly decorated collection cabinets house approximately 3000 natural specimens, curiosities, and artifacts. They provide a unique impression of a Baroque cabinet of curiosities. Unlike modern museums, the chamber follows an encyclopedic collecting approach. A distinction is made between natural specimens and artifacts. The natural specimens are divided into rocks, plants, and animals, while the artifacts are categorized into visual arts, calligraphy, coins, everyday culture, and clothing. The goal was to create a mirror image of the world: a microcosm that made the macrocosm as the wonderful creation of God tangible.

In a series of events, art projects take place around the Art and Natural History Chamber. In the so-called "Contemporary Reflections on the Art and Natural History Chamber," foundations invite artists to engage in an artistic dialogue with the chamber.

Detailed information

Tue-Sun 10am-5pm

Palace-like, the orphanage rises on Franckeplatz. Then as now, it is the centerpiece of the Francke Foundations. Erected in 1698 as the first building of the school city, it represents a new facet of European Baroque, combining confident representation without extravagant ornamentation and setting the tone for orphanage architecture.

Today, the orphanage is our museum and cultural center. Right from the start, two permanent exhibitions guide you through the history of the foundation and the global impact of Pietism. On the first floor, the former prayer and singing hall surprises with its bright architecture. Today, it enjoys an excellent reputation as a concert hall due to its fantastic acoustics. In the adjacent conference rooms, a photo exhibition showcases the impressive renovation work since the foundations were reestablished in 1991. The second floor is reserved for our changing special exhibitions, which provide insight into important themes of the foundation's history from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Passing through the art and natural history collections in the attic, you reach the balcony via a narrow wooden staircase. Here, a wide view opens up over the impressive ensemble with school buildings from three centuries. There is also a splendid panorama of the Old Town of Halle from here. In the basement, children can explore their own paths in the Krokoseum.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

What power does the word have? For Halleschen Pietismus, the word was of central importance. On the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage, we show you how August Hermann Francke's reform movement could spread around the world.

Francke developed central reformative goals of Martin Luther's with Halleschen Pietismus. His approach was as clear as it was revolutionary: Every person should find God through their own Bible reading. However, for this to happen, everyone - boys and girls alike - had to learn to read, everyone should be able to afford their own Bible and it should be printed in their own native language. Therefore, Francke established schools for all social classes, printed millions of German-language People's Bibles, and created an international network through which the Bible was translated into many other languages. His educational initiative allowed a broad population to engage with the word. In the 18th-century evangelical parsonages, the authors of the Romantic and Enlightenment periods were highly regarded. A culture of self-reflection spread in Pietism, which was reflected in diaries and personal testimonies, giving us remarkable insights into the spiritual life of people of that time. Symbolically, the power of the word is also evident in the meticulously restored pulpit from the Church of St. Ulrich in Halle, where Francke preached from 1715 and which you can admire in the exhibition.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

4 talers and 16 groschen are considered the founding capital of the Francke Foundations. How an unparalleled school city grew from this unexpected donation to a simple pastor in Glaucha can be discovered on the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage. A multimedia installation and numerous extraordinary objects will transport you into the fascinating founding and impact history of Francke's work. Because what began with a school for the poor and an orphanage, developed in a few decades into a true reform project that was based on education: Over 2,000 students learned in various schools, specially constructed economic buildings, a hospital, and a pharmacy guaranteed the care of over 3,000 people on the premises, unique cultural-historical collections in the library and chamber of wonders were established, and Francke's ideas were spread within and outside Europe. August Hermann Francke wanted nothing less than a "world change through personal change." Discover everything he set in motion through this.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

The demo station by Rirkrit Tiravanija is a stage-like sculpture that invites people to „demonstrate“ something. Tiravanija understands the term in a double sense – as political protest or as a demonstration of something that someone particularly excels at or enjoys. Throughout the duration of the exhibition, the demo station offers daily space for public performances.

During the event, photo and video recordings may be made, in which you may appear. By attending, you consent to these recordings being used for the communication of the event or exhibition.

Welcome to the realm of knowledge in the Baroque era: Stepping onto creaking floorboards into the quiet grandeur of our historical library hall, one is immediately enveloped by the collective knowledge of the Early Modern period. Like stage sets in a Baroque theater, the original bookshelves jut into the space, housing around 50,000 books from all fields of knowledge. Behind unassuming book spines lie remarkable treasures, such as the first German Bible printed in America.

At the end of the 17th century, the orphanage's library was established as one of the first public libraries in Germany. Primarily through donations, book exchanges, and their own publications, the library grew so rapidly that within a few years, it was comparable to significant German university libraries. In 1728, it received its own building, which is considered the oldest surviving secular library structure in Germany. Not only in recent times has the library been visited by guests and researchers from around the world: Albrecht von Haller, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all admired its bibliophilic treasures. We present a selection of them for you in rotating cabinet exhibitions in the former reading room of the library.

10 am - 5 pm

World of Lights presents – Winterleuchten in Westfalenpark Dortmund

This year, Westfalenpark Dortmund invites you to the popular Winterleuchten, taking place from December 7, 2024, to January 5, 2025. This enchanting event transforms the park into a radiant winter landscape, where light art and magical atmosphere merge into a unique experience.

The Winterleuchten is a highlight of the Dortmund winter season and delights visitors of all ages. Family-friendly and diverse in its offerings, the event provides an unforgettable way to enjoy the cold season in a special manner.

Light art and new attractions: Look forward to a wide selection of light objects and installations that transform Westfalenpark into a glowing winter wonderland. This year, the largest and most impressive objects await you:

• “The Ship” – 7 meters high, 6 meters long, and equipped with 2,500 controllable LEDs – A colorful sea of light that creates the impression of the ship majestically gliding in the breeze.

• “For Elise” – An installation with 2-meter high pyramids and 1.20 x 1.20 meter large glowing cubes, shining in sync with Beethoven's "For Elise" and transforming the park into a symphonic light show.

• “The Duck” – This charming light installation, 2 meters tall, floats on the pond at Kaiserhain and brings cheerful moments.

In addition to the spectacular light artworks, there are projections on various surfaces in the park that tell stories and create an immersive environment that captivates young and old alike.

Culinary offerings:
Visitors can also look forward to a diverse gastronomic offering that provides additional culinary highlights during the event.

It’s that time again: The Landauer Weihnachtscircus invites you for the 22nd time to its Grand Chapiteau for a festive circus winter festival for the whole family. Fascination and magic lie within the program, which has been exclusively put together for the days of the most beautiful time of the year.

There will be crazy fire breathers and impressive artists in the ring and in the air, fascinating illusionists and tightrope walkers with a comedic twist, as well as funny clowns and teachable animals. By popular demand, the Torres troupe from Colombia is back again. Having been spectacular during their performance two years ago, the guys are stepping it up this time. The audience can be excited to see what these "Hellriders" will do in the "Globe of Speed," the tight steel cage, with their powerful motorcycles. Our charming host Ashley Barelli will also be back after her debut last year, along with the young ladies of the Weihnachtscircus show ballet.

And what do we call our sparkling circus cocktail this year? Of course, “Fascination”! Fascinating circus art that is second to none. Starting from December 19, 2024, in Landau at the exhibition grounds. There, where the classic Christmas circus is at home.

For 18 years, the legendary tour "Klingende Bergweihnacht" has thrilled fans and attracted over 300,000 spectators with more than 400 concerts. In 2024, the successful format will again transport the audience into the festive world of pop and folk music, offering a well-deserved break from everyday life.

Patrick Lindner, one of the most popular artists in the scene, is excited to bring the Christmas magic to the stage together with Rosanna Rocci, Nadin Meypo, Bianca App, and the Niederbacher siblings. The concert will be hosted by the good-humored powerhouse Nadin Meypo, who will guide the evening and accompany the audience with charm and humor.

Look forward to an unforgettable concert that invites you to dream, sway, and unwind. Let yourself be enchanted by the Klingende Bergweihnacht and enjoy the best entertainment during the most beautiful time of the year!

Doors open at 5:00 PM

Winter Wonderland – the impressive light exhibition at the Faber-Castell Castle Park in Stein near Nuremberg is entering its second round.

ShowBro GmbH once again brings the Faber-Castell Castle Park to life with its stunning light sculptures, creating a unique experience for young and old alike.

This dazzling light exhibition will transport visitors starting from November 28, 2024, every day into a fairy-tale world that transforms the beauty of winter, the magic of darkness, and the charm of the castle into a magical experience of light.

The Winter Wonderland features over 120 life-sized animals and hundreds of other light objects. These have been crafted by Austrian stage builders by hand from over 600,000 LED lights and around 18 km of steel. On approximately 40,000 square meters, visitors will be enchanted in the midst of glowing mythical creatures and colorful installations in the wintry, nocturnal nature.

The Winter Wonderland has been specially developed by ShowBro GmbH and offers a unique experience of its kind, which is being held for the second consecutive year at the Faber-Castell Castle Park.

Marco Feldmann, technical managing director of ShowBro GmbH: “This will be a magical light exhibition and we are very pleased to create such an attraction at this fantastic location, at the Faber-Castell Castle in Stein near Nuremberg, and offer a beautiful excursion destination during the Advent season.”

The Winter Wonderland opens its gates on November 28 and will be accessible every day from 5:00 PM.

The duration of stay is unlimited.

Period: November 28, 2024, to January 6, 2025
Daily Time Slots: from 5:00 PM hourly, last entry at 9:00 PM. Park open until 10:00 PM.

"Silent Hours" - under this motto Annette Kienzle (vocals), Werner Acker (guitar), Ralf Schuon (keyboard) and Peter Lehel (saxophone) enchant their audience with contemplative songs for the Christmas season.

Admission: 6:30 PM

Winter Wonderland – the impressive light exhibition at the Faber-Castell Castle Park in Stein near Nuremberg is entering its second round.

ShowBro GmbH once again brings the Faber-Castell Castle Park to life with its stunning light sculptures, creating a unique experience for young and old alike.

This dazzling light exhibition will transport visitors starting from November 28, 2024, every day into a fairy-tale world that transforms the beauty of winter, the magic of darkness, and the charm of the castle into a magical experience of light.

The Winter Wonderland features over 120 life-sized animals and hundreds of other light objects. These have been crafted by Austrian stage builders by hand from over 600,000 LED lights and around 18 km of steel. On approximately 40,000 square meters, visitors will be enchanted in the midst of glowing mythical creatures and colorful installations in the wintry, nocturnal nature.

The Winter Wonderland has been specially developed by ShowBro GmbH and offers a unique experience of its kind, which is being held for the second consecutive year at the Faber-Castell Castle Park.

Marco Feldmann, technical managing director of ShowBro GmbH: “This will be a magical light exhibition and we are very pleased to create such an attraction at this fantastic location, at the Faber-Castell Castle in Stein near Nuremberg, and offer a beautiful excursion destination during the Advent season.”

The Winter Wonderland opens its gates on November 28 and will be accessible every day from 5:00 PM.

The duration of stay is unlimited.

Period: November 28, 2024, to January 6, 2025
Daily Time Slots: from 5:00 PM hourly, last entry at 9:00 PM. Park open until 10:00 PM.