Christmas season ends in Germany with a visit by The Three Magi star singers

Published Jan. 8, 2013
By Iris Reiff
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- Eifel residents should expect a vist from the Three Magi, or Star Singers, the week of Jan. 6.

The Christmas season in Germany always ends with the visit and feast of the Three Magi, or"Heilige Drei Koenige" as the Germans call them. The event commemorates the journey of the Three Magi, who came to bring gifts to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem.

In the 9th century, the legend of the Three Magi became the legend of the Oriental kings, named Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar. In 1164 relics alleged to be derived from the Magi, which had been kept in Milan for centuries, were brought to Cologne. The golden shrine of the Three Kings, Dreikoenigsschrein has to this day remained the greatest treasure of Cologne's Dom cathedral.

The relics, sought out by innumerable pilgrims during the Middle Ages, motivated the citizens of Cologne to build their great Dom cathedral.

The custom of celebrating "Three Kings Day" spread from Cologne to other Roman-Catholic areas of Germany. For the church, Jan. 6 actually is the feast of "Epiphany," celebrating the manifestation of the salvation of mankind. For the Catholic population, however, it's primarily the feast of the Three Kings.

In former times - and in some rural areas today - a number of superstitious customs were practiced on the eve of Jan. 6 to protect the house and home. Houses and stables were smoked out with branches consecrated in the church, and the initials of the Heilige Drei Koenige, C+M+B, plus the year were written on the door beam with consecrated chalk.
Nowadays in some regions, including the Eifel, several traditions are still carried on from former times.

Groups of adults or children, often the church mess servants, walk from house to house dressed as the Three Holy Kings. They carry a star-shaped lantern on a stick. Because they carry the star and sing a song or say a religious poem at people's doors they are also called the star singers. In return, the star singers get gifts such as eggs, bread, cake or money donations, which go into humanitarian aid funds.