On the trip to the Christmas party with the family, a couple on the A27 motorway near Bremen burned out their rented van.
The police were still able to announce good news on Saturday: Nothing happened to the couple (both 36), all the gifts that were transported had been saved.
The vehicle's engine caught fire on Christmas Eve.
The driver pulled the car onto the hard shoulder.
The fire brigade put out the fire, but the van was totaled.
He was towed away.
But for the couple afterwards "nothing stood in the way of a somewhat delayed delivery of presents in the family circle," as the police wrote.
svs / dpa