The klabautermann of berlin

Since Santa Claus has much more prestige than the Klabautermann in today’s not very glorious times for seafaring, he has kindly agreed to support his goblin relative by providing exclusive information about his enchanting children’s programs and other appearances at this point.

Book Santa Claus directly here for pre-Christmas events in Berlin and Brandenburg:
for performances in kindergartens and schools, club and company Christmas parties, Christmas markets u.a.
Or for your family gift-giving in Berlin-Pankow!

In the Santa Claus section of these pages you will also find background information on the figure of Santa Claus, which you will not find anywhere else in this form.

Table of contents

Nativity play with plasticine figures

Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, sheep, oxen, donkey- and what else do we need? With the help of the game master, the children themselves put together the most important figures and scenes surrounding the birth of Jesus. Everyone makes one or more figures out of plasticine and is allowed to play them themselves afterwards. Also the stage decoration made of paper, straw and other materials, and with the star of Bethlehem as a special effect the children prepare with more or less effort, depending on the time available, together with the game master.

The performance of the nativity play begins either immediately, when the stage set and all the clay figures are ready, or, if adults are intended as spectators, there is first a rehearsal. The play leader, as the narrator of the action, provides a plot framework into which the children can easily incorporate improvised scenes with their characters. Eventual adult spectators have the task to contribute as a choir to the musical background of the nativity play by singing some well-known Christmas carols at the appropriate place (lyrics will be distributed).

Finally, if desired, Santa Claus also makes an appearance, and each child receives as a gift, for example, a little plasticine to be able to stage another nativity play at home.

Duration: minimum 45 minutes; however, the action can fill an entire day or afternoon if you z.B. first design and build the stage set together, make the dough yourself, or even read up on the plot in the Bible.

Suitable for children from ca. 5-12 years, maximum 10-12 participants. (Larger groups can be split up so that two nativity plays take place consecutively). Can be combined well with a pre-Christmas reading and presents z.B. a great Advent event for bookstores and smaller stores. Also recommended as a children’s program for company Christmas parties, where adults should also have fun.

Price: from 200 €

Christmas gnome-
Training

If you want to be a cunning elf, you need to be able to do a lot of things. Daredevil Christmas elf candidates aged approx. 4-9 years can test their skills in the most santa-like disciplines and get a funny and legendary challenging training from Santa Claus himself. Even some veteran elves flap their pointed ears here.

The "Christmas elf schooling consists of a varied sequence of games and creative activities as practiced every day in the Christmas Secret Santa workshop.

All sorts of whimsical contests are held, such as gift wrapping, sack dragging, tangerine target tossing, and package stacking on Santa’s sleigh.

A lot of skill is required in a sled slalom ride for time through the filigree paper fir forest.

Furthermore the production of fir tree decoration from self-mixed salt dough stands on the program. The recitation of a virtuoso fast-talking Christmas poem can also be part of the final Secret Santa test.

Of course, it’s unlikely that the Secret Santa candidates will make it so far as to learn how to fly a reindeer sleigh during their first taster session. But who knows- many a miracle has already happened during the Christmas season.

Those who have bravely passed the tricky final exam will receive a beautiful Christmas Secret Santa diploma. In addition, all participants may immortalize themselves on a page of honor in Santa’s Golden Book with their name or a small drawing.

The program is suitable as an activity for active and active children in the context of family, club and company Christmas parties or as a pre-Christmas offer in schools, kindergartens, shopping centers, Christmas markets etc.

Duration: approx. 1½ hours; maximum 20 participants. (Larger groups may be split up so that two or more Secret Santa training sessions are held consecutively.).

Price: 200-250 €

Scavenger hunt with Santa Claus

Finally, a Christmas program for children, where they can get out into the fresh air and really let off steam!

Right near the kindergarten or the event location, the children discover a trail. What’s not lying around on the floor: straw stars, golden nuts, chocolate balls and curls, Christmas tree baubles, small gift packages.. even the rod from Santa Claus.

Of course, the children have to run after it and collect everything they find along the way. Until finally, in the forest or in the park, they come to Santa’s picnic area: There is a bread box, a Christmas man-cup, a thermos flask with hot tea, and right next to it is the Golden Book. Santa Claus himself can therefore certainly not be far away. Exciting!

A short time later, Santa Claus is actually standing in front of them. Real and tangible. He is happy to meet the children, and with their help he discovers that the sack on his back has a huge hole in it. No wonder that all kinds of things fell out of it.

Of course, Santa is very grateful to the children for collecting all the things he lost so diligently.

He was actually supposed to meet his Secret Santa friends here, but they seem to be letting him down today. Surely the children can jump in and together with him decorate the magically beautiful Winterwonnetanne!

Because soon it will be Christmas, and the animals of the forest, the Kienappel goblins, the shy elves and the wild forest gnomes, will recognize this by the decorated winter silver fir tree.

On the way to this fir tree, which can also be in the garden of the kindergarten, for example, various small games are played in the further course, z. B. Target throwing into Santa’s sack, sack races, games of catch or sled packing with two teams.

The collected objects are then used in the decoration of the winter fir tree. Each child gets to hang their personal favorite in the right place.

Once the tree is decorated, a festive ceremony follows- A circle game with a rhythmic tongue twister, with which the children and Santa Claus officially open the Christmas season together.

Other elements of the program (singing Christmas carols, sports activities, reading aloud, handicrafts, handing over one or more gifts for the daycare group…) can be organized according to the wishes of the children or the group. of the educators to be inserted into the program.

During the scavenger hunt, the active support and accompaniment of the children’s group by you as a guardian or a guide is required. Educators required.

The planned schedule is discussed in detail beforehand, or it follows- until the moment when I myself appear as Santa Claus- A script that I have created, which you can then use as a guide.

I provide the Christmas tree decorations and any other items needed, but take them back afterwards. If a Christmas tree is to remain decorated after the event, perhaps because it is on the grounds of the daycare center, I will use tree decorations from your stock or ones that the children have made beforehand instead, after consultation.

Duration: ca. 1½ up to 2 hours; maximum 25-30 participants at the age of ca. 3-9 years.

Santa Claus appearance at school or daycare center

When Santa Claus comes to the kindergarten or school, he should not necessarily look like a disguised educator, nor like the dad of one of the children. There it may nevertheless rather equal the real Santa Claus, who surprises the children with a lovingly and varied performance.

The pre-Christmas visit of Santa Claus can be arranged in different ways according to the age of the children:
Santa Claus can read something aloud, the children can perform tricks for him, recite poems, they can play a little game together with him or decorate a room for Christmas.

Santa loves to talk with the children.
He answers with pleasure and in detail to all their questions about his reindeers, his angels and pixies or his transport logistics in case of missing snow.

He also likes to be shown around the nursery, and the children can show him how they decorated the Christmas tree or windows, what cookies they baked, and what other Christmas preparations they made.

If a Christmas song has been prepared for him, he sings along with it, and if it is not too difficult, he can also accompany it on the guitar.

Then he shows the children some pages from his Golden Book, which are actually top secret. There are all kinds of pictures and stories to discover, and on a blank page the children can write their names and their wishes to the "real" Santa Claus, who will take the children to the Christmas party Christmas writing or. paint.

The distribution of small gifts or sweets from Santa’s sack classically concludes Santa’s appearance and usually meets the expectations of the children (and adults). Of course, Santa can also present a gift for the whole group, such as a new piece of furniture for the group or classroom. Under certain circumstances, however, it is possible to do without presents altogether, provided that expectations have already been set in a different direction beforehand.

By the way, Santa Claus can easily find the right tone even for older children or teenagers. He also has nothing at all against giving a few cool self-promoters and talented ramp sows a particularly glamorous stage as part of his act.

Duration: depending on group size approx. 30-60 minutes

Price: 80-100 €

Company Christmas parties& Christmas markets

Santa Claus will charmingly entertain your employees and guests at company and club Christmas parties or visitors to a Christmas market or similar pre-Christmas events.

Thinking along, he adapts to the frame of the event, moderates the program with humorous announcements, distributes Yule gifts, reads humorous "admonitions" to the employees or anecdotes from the everyday life of the company. He encourages people to sing Christmas carols, and when the party really gets going, he can be animated to dance along by ladies who like to dance.

On request, he will appear in the company of his popular and extremely photogenic Christmas elf, Cinnamon Star. For example, they can organize a fantastic tombola, or they can lead the audience through a stage program with performances by various artists.

In order to get the desired PR photos, Santa Claus can pose professionally and routinely, if necessary with the rod, drive all those present in front of the camera.

Also very suitable for company Christmas parties is a knowledge quiz that is as educational as it is entertaining. Of course with extremely difficult, industry-specific technical questions. Will your employees rise to the challenge? Will they earn their gifts by shining with brilliant knowledge?

More athletically inclined ladies and gentlemen may instead shoot gifts from the Christmas tree with a bow and arrow or fish blindfolded from Santa’s sleigh, not without having first enjoyed a few cups of mulled wine.

If you want to organize a Christmas party for adults and children, you might also want to consider the above described Nativity play with plasticine figures (the children play for the adults). Or how about a chocolate Santa Claus soccer tournament, where families can compete against each other?

Santa Claus can contribute to the enrichment of a Christmas market with various small playful activities, which he always prepares and implements with great care.

Please ask for his ideas! Talk directly to Santa and he will suggest an entertainment package that fits the overall character of your event, where both big and small guests will get their money’s worth.

price: 150-300 €

Thanks to his celestial contacts, Santa Claus can also bring along one or more charming angels as additional companions, in addition to the Christmas elf Cinnamon Star, if desired and for an appropriate surcharge.

Family gift-giving
on Christmas Eve

Families from Berlin-Pankow and from neighboring parts of Prenzlauer Berg or Wedding will have the opportunity to meet the real, authentic Santa Claus for a lovingly prepared& super cool family gifts to book.

All children who have already experienced Santa Claus at home, especially love his Golden Book, which is full of original pictures and stories. In addition, there is of course always something about the children to be presented in it.

An important aspect of an effective Santa Claus appearance is therefore also the preparatory telephone conversation with the parents, who should let Santa Claus in on a few interesting details from the life of their children, so that they are then surprised how he knows all this.

Otherwise there are the most different organization possibilities for the Bescherung.

Some children like to cuddle with Santa Claus in his wonderfully soft coat, others ask him questions, recite poems or even perform an elaborately rehearsed family concert.

A Christmas carol sung together is a must before Santa opens his sack and brings out the presents.

Duration: ca. 15-20 minutes

Price: 75 € (15-19) and/or. 50 € (before 3 p.m. or after 7 p.m.)

PLEASE NOTE

For the 24. December 2021 Santa Claus is already fully booked and unfortunately cannot accept any more orders.

Curriculum vitae of Santa Claus

according to the newest state of research
the science of Christmas

Santa Claus was born around 1800. He is a son of his time; his career is marked by secularization, pedagogical instrumentalization, supra-regional standardization and commercialization of Christmas customs, but also by unconditional love and generosity and abundance for all.

For the better understanding of its prehistory here first also the biographies of its office predecessors and/or. Teacher St. St. Nicholas and Knecht Ruprecht, who merged into a single figure in him and were brought together in the course of the 20th century. Century in large parts of Germany have been almost completely displaced by him.

Vita of St. Nicholas

• Nicholas lived in the 4. Century as normal mortal bishop in Myra, Asia Minor
• shortly after his earthly death he was venerated as a saint in the Eastern Roman Church because of the numerous miracles he had performed by virtue of his justice and charity
• from the 6./7. Century also in the areas of the west church beginning extraordinary popularity as a saint
• at the latest from 12. Century applies St. St. Nicholas specifically as the patron saint of children, to whom he gives gifts on his feast day, 6. December, bringing gifts. When giving away apples, nuts, and sugar curls, he does not appear in person, but, remaining invisible, throws them into the room or fills them into containers prepared by the children, such as boots, stockings hung on the chimney, straw baskets, or plates
• moreover, he is venerated as the patron saint of both children and various professions, including thieves and vagrants, and is often invoked for help. Legends entwine about how St. Nicholas brought children who had been stolen or murdered by strangers back to life and returned them to their parents. Particularly creepy stories (and pictures) tell of a greedy innkeeper who is said to have slaughtered two or three boys and put their flesh, mixed with pork, into a pickle barrel, from which St. Nicholas then pulled them out alive again
• in the 16. The Reformation and the Counter-Reformation in the sixteenth century brought considerable difficulties for St. Nicholas. His innocent, unconditional generosity towards his charges, the children, is stopped or at least strongly regulated
• Luther’s rage against the Catholic veneration of saints does not stop at St. Nicholas either. Nevertheless, in order to find a substitute for the custom of giving presents to children, Luther first establishes a connection between Christmas and Bescherung around 1535. In the Protestant parts of Germany, the delivery date for gifts will be from 6. to the 25. December postponed; as the bringer of gifts, the Christ Child or the Holy Christ takes the place of St. Nicholas. (In the Netherlands and other Protestant countries St. Nicholas nevertheless continues to practice in the usual form)
• for the Catholic countries of Europe, St. Nicholas is confirmed in office by the Council of Trent (1545-1563). However he must be prescribed new guidelines for the arrangement of his appearance
• from then on he begins a traveling activity (mostly riding on a donkey) with regular public appearances, which remind of fairground spectacles; prescribed clothing: the Roman Catholic bishop’s habit, which seems silly for the originally Greek-Orthodox bishop Nicholas
• furthermore he gets a demonic or animal-like companion (Krampus, Pelznickel, Rasselbock), or Knecht Ruprecht, who with his rod and the sack, in which he can make bad children disappear, is also a counter-figure of the benevolent, munificent Nicholas – an embodiment of evil, which, however, is controlled and subdued by the good (according to the Catholic message, which, however, is not necessarily always shown to advantage in the practical representation in view of the more impressive role of the creepy, evil, or also derbomic companion, next to which the figure of St. Nicholas pales more and more)
• the bureaucratic tendencies of the age of Phillip II. and the Inquisition are reflected in the introduction of a "golden book" from which Nicholas has to read the registers of sins of the children placed in his episcopal care in order to reward or threaten punishment, as the case may be. This marks the beginning of a change in function: the appearance of Santa Claus is increasingly subordinated to "educational" purposes
• into the 20th century. In the twentieth century, St. Nicholas lived an unedifying existence as a kind of school inspector or as the harmless, kindly elderly gentleman who was separated from his partner, the demonic, terrifying Krampus or Krampus the Magician. Knecht Ruprecht has to let steal the show
• In other regions, he merges with his companion figures, who have degenerated into worn-out greaseball comedians and have been robbed of all demonic traits, and who at some point had been representatives of regional pagan deities, to form a kindly and somewhat shivery old man in winter fur, who is already quite similar to the later Santa Claus (z.B. the Swiss Samichlaus)
• around 1840, the factory reproduction of the chocolate Santa Claus begins, which will later affect Santa Claus in a much more extreme form (in Austria, of course, it remains the chocolate Santa Claus and Krampus to this day)
• since about 1900, thanks to the intermingling of Protestant and Catholic Christmas traditions, it has become common in many families to give presents to children both on St. Nicholas Day (which until then was celebrated only by Catholics) and at Christmas (where until then only Protestant children were given presents by the Christ Child). St. Nicholas gradually shifts his activities back to invisible boot stuffing, and his reputation with the children rises again
• Despite his popularity as a children’s saint and his close connection with the folk customs of the pre-Christmas period, St. Nicholas remained a popular figure until the 20th century. century also highly regarded as a patron saint of other populations. Still around 1920 thieves and other people from the criminal milieu tattooed this saying on their upper arm: „Saint Nicholas, protect me from police and workhouse!“ Whether still today, in view of the world-wide perfected police and secret service monitoring systems, any persecuted person might be naive or strong enough in faith to call Saint Nicholas for help, and whether he would even have the power to help his protege- we can only speculate
• At present, St. Nicholas maintains friendly relations with Santa Claus, although he has been inexorably and now probably definitively eclipsed by the latter’s splendor as a Christmas icon

Vita of Knecht Ruprecht

• born around 1600 as a son of the Butzenbercht in some dark cave in Tyrol. The Butzenbercht was in the 16./17. Santa Claus is known in the alpine region as the companion of the "child-eater" and frightened "sinful" children by threatening them with horrible cruelties and trying to put them in her sack and take them away. Knecht Ruprecht later inherits his insignia from her, namely the rod and a big sack or basket
• the name Ruprecht (rûhperht = rough Percht) thus derives from his family on his mother’s side – the Butzenbercht belongs to the Perchten, female frightful figures, who appear at winter exorcism processions in the alpine region, especially at Epiphany (6. January) and, incidentally, are close relatives of the St. Nicholas companion Krampus, which is still common there today
• in view of the mistreatment he has to suffer as a little boy on the part of his mother and the child-eater, in his early youth he gladly enters the service of St. Nicholas and accompanies him especially on his northern Germany route; scope of duties: punishment or intimidation of naughty children
• he quickly gains a high reputation, although a multitude of regional figures compete with him for the position of St. Nicholas’ companion
• he benefits in particular from the oppression of his employer in the Protestant areas. Here, where St. Nicholas already in the 17. In the 19th century, when he is partially forgotten, Knecht Ruprecht succeeds in establishing himself as the sole Christmas mythical figure who both gives presents and punishes, which entails a corresponding reinterpretation of his two insignia, the sack (with presents for the "good" children) and the rod (for the chastisement of the "bad" ones)
• with this double role he acquires the ideal qualification for the pedagogical turn of the Christmas customs that begins in the time of the strengthening bourgeoisie. He becomes an extended arm of parental authority
• from the Enlightenment – although it actually assigns a sinister child terror like him to superstition, on which the self-inflicted immaturity of the people is based – Knecht Ruprecht emerges strengthened: as a secularized, "usable" custom figure, deprived of all associations with sinister hellish powers, but often confused and merged with his former employer, St. Nicholas
• in the 19. In the nineteenth century, there is also partly a service relationship with the Protestant Christ Child, as it z.B. in the well-known poem by Theodor Storm "Von draub’ vom Walde komm ich her" (1862). The Christ Child, to whom Luther had entrusted the function of giving presents to children at Christmas instead of St. Nicholas, acts here as Knecht Ruprecht’s employer and sends him down to earth after he has checked his equipment with the little bag full of "apples, nuts and almond kernels" for the pious children and with the rod for the bad children
• another variant of the division of labor between Knecht Ruprecht and Christkind is reported in a Christmas poem by Robert Reinick (1805-1852): the Christkind accompanied by angels secretly and invisibly brings the Christmas tree into the parlors and hangs gifts on it, while Knecht Ruprecht personally visits the children with his sack and rod
• in this stage of development of the Christmas customs Santa Claus starts his career; already around 1900 Knecht Ruprecht is largely subject to competition by Santa Claus for reasons not satisfactorily clarified by Christmas science. (Possibly due to his advanced age, he is no longer able to cope with the ever-increasing gift load; some passages in the previously mentioned poems suggest this.)
• in the course of the 20. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Knecht Ruprecht – apart from being used as a (false) synonym for Santa Claus – disappears almost completely from the stage of Christmas characters. (The Christ child, likewise displaced by the Santa Claus, can save itself however, not without irony opposite its inventor Luther, into the catholic households, where it still partly holds the Bescherungsamt)

Vita of Santa Claus

• around 1800 Santa Claus is born under unknown circumstances
• probably he is born in a hut in the woods near a remote German town, as the son of one of those figures who are known in wintry customs around St. John the Baptist. St. Nicholas or St. Martin as relics of regional pagan gods have survived into modern times, such as Pelzemartel, Pulterklas, Bullerklas, Ruklas, Rupsack, Pietermann, Butz or Butzemann, Bullkatater or Erbsbar. According to other sources, his father was a mythical bearded migrant from northern Europe, descendant of the Norse gods Thor and Baldur, who moved about on a reindeer sleigh and was equipped with a rod (fertility symbol) and nuts (symbolic food supply for winter)
• a kinship, at least 3. or 4. Grades, with the Klabautermann is also considered as good as safe
• the Santa Claus monograph by Becker-Huberti (2004) also points to a connection between Santa Claus and the German garden gnome (which seems plausible in view of the external similarities); a review of this thesis would be worthwhile, especially since there are hardly any reliable scientific findings on the relationship between Santa Claus and the Christmas gnomes, which belong directly to the gnome family
• probably first documented mention in 1820 in the German dictionary; there, however, somewhat nebulously explained as a "symbol for the Christ Child
• since 1830 at the latest, regular orders from the Christkind to support the already somewhat decrepit Knecht Ruprecht – at first only inconspicuous assistance in carrying the sack, but later also in distributing presents and, if necessary. in the use of the rod. Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben’s song "Tomorrow comes Santa Claus" (1835) already depicts him in action as a Christmas gift bearer
• there is often confusion: "Knecht Ruprecht", "Nikolaus" and "Weihnachtsmann" are often mentioned in the same breath and are apparently quite carelessly mistaken for identical people. Santa’s changing outfit and his eclectic appropriation of the attributes of his predecessors also contribute to this (s. below); an own identity is hardly recognizable for the time being
• around 1875 establishment as an independent Bescherungsunternehmer – independent of the instructions of the Christkind and in competition with Knecht Ruprecht – in the metropolises of the German Reich. (branch establishments in Austria-Hungary do not seem to succeed from the beginning)
• Start of an unprecedented founding career; at first, the main strategy is still to copy the educationally oriented recipe for success of the merged Santa Claus-Knecht Ruprecht; rapid growth is also generated by cleverly responding to two seemingly contradictory trends: On the one hand, the strong demand – especially in big cities – for a religion-free Christmas gift service (the Christ Child and angels are left out); on the other hand, the nostalgic reflection on supposedly traditional, crypto-religious customs, which repeats, at the level of the petit-bourgeois doll’s house and the proletarian allotment garden, the turn to a folk custom seen in a fairy-tale, idyllic light, which was carried out in the Romantic period
• the outfit goes through several phases. From Knecht Ruprecht Santa Claus takes over the sack and the rod (not its long brown cowl), from St. Nicholas the Phrygian cap (Zipfelmutze) and z.T. the Golden Book; in principle, however, he rather orients himself on the appearance of his goblin-like, backwoods ancestors. With fur coats, clumsy boots and changing accessories such as pipe, pointed felt hat or luxuriant Rauschebart he creates a mixture of forest gnome, magician and old Dickwanst, which meets the wishes of his clientele to locate him in a mythical-fairy-tale milieu. A drawing by Moritz von Schwind published in the Munich Bilderbogen of 1847, depicting one of his ancestors, "Herr Winter", is also said to have served as his inspiration
• around 1910, the company flourishes; Santa Claus adopts a luxurious lifestyle, driving a fancy car or even skiing (both documented in pictures from 1910) and enters into ever closer ties with the advertising industry
• on the eve of the First World War he drags war toys in his sack with special fondness into the festively illuminated rooms; for the soldiers’ Christmas in the field he appears with pickelhaube and assault rifle
• In the 20’s (and more and more afterwards) the "pedagogical" aspect of Santa’s appearance recedes. The use of the rod is no longer compatible with the image of the kindly old man from the "winter forest" – a place that in the eyes of city dwellers now appears as an out-of-this-world fairy-tale setting. Instead of serving to instill an ethic based on the fulfillment of duty and obedience, the act of giving presents simply becomes a symbol of material abundance; it no longer represents a reward for childish achievements, but the unconditional appropriation of industrially produced wealth, even by the lower strata of society
• thus Santa Claus realizes socialistic, or rather even anarchistic tendencies of the age. The overcoming (or suspension) of the idea of achievement, the generous material and emotional attention, which does not require the recipient to renounce any instincts or identify with an ego ideal, the joy of giving without demanding anything – these aspects of the Santa Claus gift-giving ritual are probably the main reasons why the cult of Santa Claus has survived to this day as a utopia less than ever redeemed by social reality has remained so unbrokenly alive
• at the same time, like most of the "leftist" ideas of the 20th century. Century, as particularly well into the capitalism integrable. The Christmas store keeps countless companies alive, especially in the toy, confectionery and food industries; Santa Claus, reproduced a million times over as a hollow chocolate body, becomes a symbol of the flood of goods whose insane growth and flow forms the visible surface of the relations of production and power directed by capital
• also since the 20’s he belongs to the most popular motives in the advertising photography. Instead of the Christ Child, the place at his side is increasingly taken by an "angel", who has nothing whatsoever to do with a messenger from heaven, but functions as the embodiment of female charms and a status symbol of Santa Claus – in addition to cars, airships, and later also motorcycles, airplanes, rockets or inline skates, the latest achievements of technology or fashion, which he disposes of with a sovereign hand
• The Santa Claus appearance and outfit, as we know it today, is established around the middle of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century. The main impetus for this came from the American counterpart Santa Claus, who first appeared in an advertising campaign for the Coca-Cola Company in 1931. Through the annually recurring advertising campaign of this company, the red and white color of the coat is stylized as the decisive distinguishing feature of Santa Claus at all. Under the impression of the enormous success of this advertisement also the German Santa Claus copies without further ado the American coat model and lets its green, brown or blue coats with differently colored fur trimmings, which were used in former times – apart from the red ones – disappear in the mothballs
• Santa Claus survives the Nazi period relatively unscathed, apparently without joining the NSDAP; his range of gifts for the "Volksgemeinschaft unterm Lichterbaum" is, of course, similarly patriotic and militaristic as in the first half of the 20th century. World War
• After 1945, its distribution area continues to grow both in West Germany and in the GDR; the standardization of the costume and the gift-giving process is consolidated
• In 1968, the demand "Abolish Santa Claus" is sporadically voiced!" raised, without meeting with large resonance. The rod is actually abolished in the following years, not only for Santa Claus, who no longer uses it anyway, but in the education of children in general
• since about 1980, further alignment with American standards regarding Santa Claus mounts; around the turn of the millennium, domestic horses or deer are completely replaced by the ubiquitous reindeer in the form of fairy lights
• Scholars, journalists, and writers became increasingly interested in the practical details of Santa’s family life, gift production, and transportation logistics. All sorts of "humorous" slurs are published, or z. B. physical proofs of the impossibility of a single Santa Claus giving presents to so many children in a single day – and corresponding counter-proofs with the help of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. (In these bills, u.a. mostly the mistake is made to give the nationally different Christmas office holders like Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, Samichlaus, Père Noel, Vaterchen Frost etc. lumping everyone together with Santa Claus). Children are usually not interested in such nonsense; they know that the secrets of Santa Claus cannot be discovered by mathematical logic
• in the last decades of the 20th century. In the early twentieth century, the virtual and industrial duplication of Santa Claus through pictures, cartoons, advertising figures, chocolate figurines, Christmas market and department store Santas, student Santa Claus actors, and the like not only assumes ever more incredible proportions, but also extends further and further into the pre-Christmas season
• this ultimately leads to a resolution of Santa Claus in the singular. From the Santa Claus becomes – also in the child mouth – a Santa Claus (of many). However, the extraordinary popularity and vitality of the myth of Santa Claus is maintained even in the majority
• Santa Claus thus keeps pace in a very concrete way with the phenomenon of postmodernity described by philosophers and psychologists as the dissolution of the integrity of the subject. (Also the above mentioned physical calculation examples are nothing else than a reflection of the fragmentary multiplication of the Santa Claus subject disguised as natural science)
• under the impression of his (or their) own pluralization, which he (or they) has (or have) coped with well so far, but hardly epistemologically, Santa Claus (or Santa Clauses) is (or are) currently – outside the Christmas season, when he (or they) is (or are), of course, still fully occupied by child wish fulfillment matters – increasingly devoted to reflecting and philosophizing about the diverging aspects of his (or their) spectralized ego. He (or they) may be in the process of writing up his (or their) experiences as a multiple personality(ies) in his (or their) memoirs
• by the affectionate attention, which he shows to the children at his appearances and gifts on Christmas Eve and in the pre-Christmas period, they infallibly recognize the (or "a") real Santa Claus in him, in spite of all the subject dissolution

Santa Claus rides the subway

A song from Santa’s everyday life

If only I were always a Santa Claus,
If I am a Santa Claus, all the world loves me very much,
All around me shine children’s eyes deeply happy
And even frustrated pensioners smile quite delightedly.

The most beautiful woman today hardly attracts the looks,
because everybody stares only at me, Santa Claus,
yes, also the beauty gives her most beautiful smile to me
and is happy about a candy with gold paper.

Getting on the subway as Santa Claus,
Then all people’s hearts are mine;
Then the man who suffers, wishes and dozes would feel,
Suddenly redeems himself from misery.

A 14-year-old, who otherwise only grumbles and grumbles,
Who must be sick of the family Christmas,
Suddenly starts chatting with me quite happily
About the summer beach vacation from Santa Claus.

A child comes to me with his mouth open,
And caresses me as unrestrainedly as a dog,
The mother laughs, she would like to try it too –
Yes such a thing can happen to me only as Santa Claus.

I get on the subway as Santa Claus,
Then all people’s hearts are mine;
Then feels the person suffering, wishing and dozing,
Get rid of hardship all at once.

Even the official from BVG,
If he sees my white beard, as white as snow,
Looks full of emotion and plucks itself absentmindedly and delicately
By his accurate Kaiser Wilhelm beard.

If only I were always a Santa Claus
Then getting love would not be difficult for me,
My suffering, wishing, dozing would then be over,
For the feelings flow uninhibited and freely.

I get on the subway as Santa Claus,
Then all people’s hearts are mine;
Then the person who suffers, desires and dozes feels,
Suddenly relieved of the need.