Colorful lights, Christmas music and figures: people decorate their houses at Christmas time

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The first Advent is just around the corner, a welcome occasion for many people to decorate their homes.

But while most of them stick to the Advent wreath, Christmas tree arrangement or Christmas pyramid in the window, there are also people who interpret the concept of Christmas decorations a little more expansively.

One of them is Josef Glogger from Balzhausen in Bavarian Swabia.

35,000 to 40,000 LEDs illuminate his house, garden and a crib set up there.

At Glogger, things are comparatively simple, because he relies on reflective white: »Better a uniform color.

I think the bright colors don't go well with the Christmas season, at least not in our area, ”he told the dpa news agency.

Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa

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Mariola Voss apparently sees it very differently: In Hohenlinden near Munich, she decorates her house based on the American model.

Visitors not only experience brightly colored decorations, but also an LED choreography with music.

If a pedal is pressed, the more than 30,000 colored lights shine and dance to Christmas carols such as "Jingle Bells" or a techno version of "Amazing Grace".

With their "Christmas Light Show" the family collects donations for the German Heart Center in Munich.

She has a personal connection to the subject - her eldest daughter has a heart defect and has had to be operated on several times, says Voss.

Josef Glogger also collects donations - with him they go to the leukemia and stem cell research at the Ulm University Hospital.

Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa

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Christmas market on a small scale: At Dirk van Acken's house in Oberhausen there are several hundred fairy lights, glowing snowmen, Santa Clauses, glitter chains, angels and Christmas balls.

The geriatric nurse and his wife start decorating as early as October.

In the run-up to Christmas he turns on the lights, slips into his Santa Claus costume and turns on Christmas music.

For the shine of 50,000 lights, he even had to upgrade the power grid in the house.

Visitors do not have to pay admission, but there is a donation box.

Photo: Fabian Strauch / dpa

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This "Christmas house" in Berg near Ravensburg is reflected in this picture from 2019 in the garden pond.

The Schlagmüller family has been decorating their house for years.

They wanted to "spread joy," said Felix Schlagmüller of the dpa at the time.

There have often been nice conversations with strangers.

Photo: Felix Kästle / dpa

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The excessive Christmas decorations are likely to be less happy looking at the electricity bill - and one or the other environmentalist will probably roll their eyes at these looks.

Mario Leich from Walschleben in Thuringia doesn't seem to mind: for more than ten years he has been decorating his family's house (here a picture from 2018).

Several kilometers of fairy lights and more than 100,000 LEDs are used.

Photo: Jens-Ulrich Koch / dpa

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In Delmenhorst there was a completely different problem last year: Because too many cars drove into the small cul-de-sac to marvel at the more than 60,000 lights, there was traffic chaos, reported the NDR, among others.

The Borchart couple have been decorating the house for around 20 years (the picture is from 2018).

Your Christmas house should shine again this year - in order to prevent a rush like the one in 2020, according to media reports, the street is only open to residents during Advent.

Photo: Mohssen Assanimoghaddam / dpa

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Every year ... the house of the Balke family in the Wedemärk district of Hellendorf in Lower Saxony also shines.

Figures, lights and stars shine there every day from 4pm to 10pm.

Photo: Holger Hollemann / dpa

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While many "Christmas house owners" don't let Corona stop them from digging out the decoration, Matthias and Angelika Erdle from Veitshöchheim have made a different decision.

The people in the Bavarian community are currently not getting to see such a sight as here in 2018.

They wanted to "celebrate Christmas with their visitors, drink mulled wine and punch, eat cookies and gingerbread, without a mask, distance or rules," they write on Facebook.

Of course, this is not possible under the current conditions.

But the couple remains optimistic: "We hope that all of this will be possible again next year."

Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa

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