They are the tallest Advent candles in Hamburg – the crane candles on the construction site of Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, one of the largest in Europe: 75 metres high rise the candles made of fairy lights. Every evening from 6.30pm to 8.30pm they shine above the rapidly growing buildings between the Elbe and Überseeallee, between Magdeburger Hafen and San-Francisco-Strasse.
Every Sunday, one more candle shines in a tradition that originated in Hamburg. It goes back to Johann Hinrich Wichern, theologian, educator and founder of the Evangelische Diakonie (Protestant Social Welfare Organisation) in the Rauhes Haus: in 1839, at the dawn of the industrial age, he explained the length of time until Christmas to street children and taught them how to count along the way. Every evening from the first Advent onwards, a candle was lit on the so-called Wichern wreath, four large ones for Sundays and small ones for the other days. For practical reasons, today there are usually only the Sunday candles – fortunately, because for the 27 days from the first Advent to Christmas Eve this year, even the 20 cranes currently on site would not have been enough.
We wish you a happy Advent season!
Credits: @mk_timelapse
