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Santa Claus actor Willi Dahmen at work
Photo: Ole Spata / dpa
A year ago, Santa Claus Willi Dahmen from Celle canceled all appearances due to the pandemic, now at least some children can meet him live again.
The 69-year-old with the white beard has an office at the Christmas market in Uelzen.
There he accepts wish lists on Fridays and Saturdays - if the infection situation allows, until December 18th.
"I've never seen children as happy as this," said the Santa Claus actor to the German Press Agency.
He has appeared as Santa Claus for more than three decades and also trains and mediates other actors.
However, the fourth wave of corona is currently killing hundreds of rental Santa Clauses across Germany.
Dozens of Christmas markets and hundreds of previously agreed appearances in shopping centers or at company celebrations have been canceled.
"It annoys me that thousands are still allowed to go to the football stadium, but children and old people are left out," said Dahmen.
He had seen girls and boys who were afraid that Santa Claus would not come because of Corona.
Retirement homes no longer hosted Advent celebrations.
Christmas presents through plastic pipes?
This year, Santa Claus from Celle is offering online consultation hours and online gifts.
Christmas 2020 was the worst of his life for him personally, said the native Rhinelander.
"My mother was dying and I wasn't allowed to see her."
Dahmen fears further Christmas parties overshadowed by the pandemic in 2022 or even 2023. But he wants to prepare and reports from a colleague in the USA who sits on a gallery and gives children their gifts through a transparent plastic tube.
"I could imagine that too."
It used to be a typical job for students to portray Santa Claus.
But in the meantime numerous student unions have dropped out of the mediation.
Authorities are also active in the industry: In Bremen, the Santa Claus placement has a 40-year tradition, said a spokeswoman for the Bremen-Bremerhaven employment agency.
This year, 13 Santa Clauses and two angels can be booked through the agency in the Hanseatic city, and seven Santa Claus actors in Bremerhaven.
Petra Henkert has her Christmas office in Zeuthen near Berlin.
"Six weeks ago I thought that Christmas would be the same as before Corona, now it's almost as bad as last year," said the organizer of events related to the festival.
She has created checklists for a corona-compliant visit by Santa Claus - the items corona test, ventilation, mouth-nose protection and make children happy can be ticked off.
Despite the restrictions, Henkert calls for gestures of togetherness: "For example, making poinsettias for the elderly, writing a letter or consciously picking up the phone more often."
dpa / dak