Expect a visit from the star singers

Either today or at some point this weekend, you may be visited by children in costume. They will recite a text and ask for a donation, before writing or sticking a cryptic row of letters and numbers on the door frame.

These are the "star singers"; it's a Catholic tradition, but has since spread to some Protestant areas as well. The children will be dressed as the Three Wise Men, and there will usually be another child carrying a star. One of the Wise Men will probably be in blackface: they are supposed to represent the three Old World continents Europe, Asia and Africa, and since Germany doesn't have the same history of slavery and colonialism as the US, the conversation about blackface hasn't really arrived here in earnest just yet.

The donations are for children's charities. This year they are collecting for an organisation in Indonesia that helps children who have been victims of psychological, physical or sexual abuse. (Yes, I know, ironic considering the ongoing problems the Catholic Church has in this area, but there you have it.)

The star singers confer a blessing on the house, and will write or affix a legend to the door frame that looks something like: "20+C+M+B*23". This stands for the year 2023, and either (depending on who you ask) the names of the Three Wise Men (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, according to tradition), or the phrase "Christus Mansionem Benedicat", which translates as "May Christ bless this house."