The museum has applied to UNESCO to add Father Christmas to its list of cultural heritage.

Felicitas Höptner told VoR: “We applied because we realised that our guests in the museum do not know any more about the differences of the different gift bringers. In Germany we have three different gift bringers and they and their companions have a lot of customs around them. If people forget about them, we will forget about the customs.”

What are the three gift bringers?

Höptner said: “It all started with Saint Nicholas. He was a real living person in the 4th century. He was a bishop. During the whole medieval time he was the one and only gift bringer. So, during the Christmas time the children did not get any more gifts, only on his saint’s day – the 6th of December. Then came the Protestant time and more modern and different gift bringers have appeared: Christ Child, or in Germany it’s called Christ Kinder and the Father Christmas figurine, and in Germany he’s called Weihnachtsmann. They are completely different to Santa Claus, for example.”

The musum is concerned that the traditional Father Christmas character will be forgotten for the more modern American image of Santa Claus.

Höptner said: “I think they [the Germans] only see the American Santa Claus, because people celebrate Christmas, but they do not ask what’s behind it.”

(Voice of Russia)