December 28, 2024: Carol singers sing in St. Hedwig's Cathedral during the central sending out service for the carol singers in the Berlin archdiocese.
© dpa
As carol singers, children and young people bring the traditional house blessing to Berlin's Rotes Rathaus.
Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) will receive the star singers from the Holy Family parish in Lichterfelde on the morning of January 6, according to a press release.
Dressed up as the Three Wise Men Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, the 10 to 14-year-olds sing songs, collect donations and write or stick the house blessing "Christus mansionem benedicat" (Christ bless this house) on the doors of the city hall. Wegner wants to send a "cheerful signal at the start of the year" with the carol singers' visit.
In this year's campaign by the Children's Missionary Society, the carol singers are collecting donations for worldwide projects that promote children's rights - for example, by running schools or organizing therapy for children who experience violence. For Wegner, strengthening children's rights is "a cause that I fully support". In Berlin, believers register with their parishes in advance to receive the carol singers. According to the Catholic aid organization, around 46 million euros in donations were collected nationwide last year.