By Mareike Sophie Drünkler
On Monday it will be up to 35 degrees. Most Berliners think of the beach, outdoor pool and lots of ice cream. Torsten Scholz (56) is busy preparing for Christmas despite the tropical heat – by baking stollen!
Oh, you happy one: In his Köpenicker bakery, it already smells so wonderfully Christmassy that even in July there is an Advent mood.
“We’ve been busy with Christmas for four weeks now,” says Scholz. “We will start selling Stollen on September 1st. Then we bake one more variety every week.”
The Stollen creations are known beyond the borders of Berlin. Most popular: the whiskey stollen Photo: Olaf Selchow
In the end there will be twelve varieties. From the whiskey stollen to the classic butter stollen to the Köpenicker honey stollen, the baker has everything on offer. His latest creation: Kirschwasser Stollen with chocolate. Scholz is passionate about his job, he would “prefer to bake stollen all year round”.
Festive decoration for KaDeWe
Heike Schraub (46) is already in the pre-Christmas stress. She is already working on the festive decorations for KaDeWe, the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich.
“I love the Christmas season and everything that goes with it. It’s just something very special every year,” says Schraub. She doesn’t find it unusual to plan to place Santa Clauses, sleighs and angels when the weather is bathing. “When it’s that hot, the thought of snow and winter cold even chills me a little.”
This obviously also applies to Christmas fan Jörg Martin (55). For almost 30 years, the engineer has been planting, caring for and selling his lovingly grown organic Christmas trees in Zossen, Brandenburg.
Jörg Martin with his triplets Alexander, Elisa and Ralf: His Christmas tree forest is a family business in which grandpa Hans-Erhart (80) and his wife Olga (48) also lend a hand. In addition to Christmas trees, the Martins also sell their own honey, fruit and vegetables in the farm shop Photo: Thomas Spikermann
In December, his forest is transformed into a winter idyll with 20,000 trees of all shapes and colors that you can fell with your own hands. And in July? “In the summer we ‘snip’ the trees. That means we get them in shape.”
The Martin family is already negotiating with Santa Claus – so that the bushy beard will provide enough helpers to the Christmas tree forest in Mellensee during the Advent season. After all, the youngest want to leave their wish lists with them. Every year again…