Regensburg/Berlin (dpa/lby) – 25 carol singers from the diocese of Regensburg visit the Federal President in Berlin for the Epiphany 2023. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender want to receive the group on January 6th at Bellevue Palace, as announced by the children’s ministry “Die Sternsinger” in Aachen on Thursday. The 16 girls and nine boys come from the parish of St. Jakob in Schwandorf and will write their blessings on the large portal of the Federal President’s official residence. The group from the Upper Palatinate is representative of all carol singers from Germany.
The past 64th carol singer campaign was started in Regensburg at the end of 2021. Traditionally, a group from this diocese visits the Federal President the following year to report on their commitment in the previous year. The motto of this year’s 65th carol singing campaign is “Strengthen children, protect children – in Indonesia and worldwide”. According to the information, it will open in Frankfurt am Main on December 30th.
The Dreikönigssingen is considered the world’s largest solidarity campaign in which children get involved for children. According to the Kindermissionswerk, the carol singers have collected around 1.27 billion euros since the campaign started in 1959. The donations went to 77,400 projects for disadvantaged and needy girls and boys in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Oceania and Eastern Europe. The campaign is supported by the children’s missionary work “Die Sternsinger” and the Bund der Deutschen Katholische Jugend (BDKJ).
