Germans honor Three Wise Men during January

Thursday marked the end of Christmas season in Germany, when most Germans lit their Christmas tree for the last time before discarding it and packing away its ornaments until next Christmas.

Jan. 6 is Three Kings Day, or Epiphany. It’s one of Germany’s most traditional and characteristic religious holidays. Three Kings Day is only a legal holiday in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Sachsen.

From after Christmas until late January, children disguised as the three holy kings can be seen walking from house to house in the KMC. They will wear paper crowns on their head and carry a big golden star on a pole. They sing, pray and ask for charity collections for their parish.

Each year, about 500,000 children participate in the fundraiser event, which was established in 1959. More than €600 million were collected to support more than 51,000 projects and relief programs for children in Asia, Africa, Latin American, the South Pacific and Eastern Europe.

The children asking for donations represent Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, the three kings who in former times, when ringing door bells, would receive Christmas cookies, pretzels and sausages. After receiving a donation, the kings would bless the house by writing “20C+M+B09” in chalk above the doors to keep evil from entering. The three letters C, M and B don’t stand for the kings’ initials, but for the Latin words “Christus Mansionem Benedictat,” which literally means “Christ bless this home.” The blessing has to stay over the door until the next Three Kings Day.

Caspar is Hebraic and means treasurer; Melchior is Hebraic and means the king of light; and the Babylonian name Balthasar means “the Lord may protect the life of the king.” The three wise men were considered kings because when Christ was born they came to the stable and brought gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.