This was probably the “shocking news” (if it can be shocking) of last weekend: a kindergarten in Kassel is canceling Christmas carols. Yes, even Christian customs, such as singing Christmas carols or baking cookies, are not celebrated. We first give an interim list:
What is there to report so far? Let's start at the beginning, because the first report about this was in the HNA [ 1 ] (Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine) on October 7th, 2016, published at 11:28 a.m. According to the HNA, parents of the children who were in... at the Sara-Nussbaum-Haus daycare center, addressed the newspaper:
In the municipal daycare center Sara-Nussbaum-Haus on Untere Königsstrasse, Christmas is regularly canceled: no Christmas tree, no Christmas stories, no Christmas spirit.
The HNA contacted those responsible in the city of Kassel and received confirmation there in an initial statement. However, in the course of the article, the HNA also writes that the statement has been partially revised:
After further consultation with those responsible, it turned out that Christmas does play a role in the daycare center. This is how Christmas things are baked and crafted.
Here it is now said that Christmas is somehow celebrated, but not in the strictest sense and that Christmas carols are avoided because the majority of the children at the daycare center are not Christian. At the end of the article, the pork debate is addressed, as pork is not served at lunch.
Representation of the city of Kassel
The city of Kassel reacted quickly and published a statement on October 7, 2016 [ 2 ] that sounds different. Ma says that the information is “wrong”.
The Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA, Kassel) had the headline “Christmas is canceled in kindergarten” in its issue of October 7, 2016. The report states that Christmas “is not celebrated” in the municipal daycare center Sara-Nussbaum-Haus, “or if it is, then only a little. So that no one notices.” These claims are false, explains Kassel’s youth city councilor Anne Janz in an interview.
According to the city of Kassel, Advent is traditionally celebrated, Christmas carols are sung and even Santa Claus comes. This statement mentions twice that the information in the HNA is incorrect.
The statement that Christmas has been canceled in recent years is incorrect.
Two statements – one dilemma
Some things here don't seem entirely coherent, and the HNA has also reacted to the city's statement and is annoyed [ 3 ]: on October 9, 2016, a reaction to the reaction appeared on the HNA website:
Zig-zag course for Christmas in urban daycare centers
The press office of the city of Kassel and its own truth - a documentation
This article focuses in particular on the fact that the city of Kassel and its spokesperson have provided different information. The city's information policy is criticized here, especially to the extent that the statements made by city spokespersons have been revised. At this point the HNA refers to the version that was sent to them AFTER the first statement. In fact, the HNA published a revised press statement on October 8, 2016 [ 4].
Exit still open
In contrast to a large Austrian tabloid newspaper and various “alternative blogs”, we looked at all the representations and also sent out inquiries to the daycare center, the city of Kassel and also the HNA: a lot of things don’t fit together yet, and sometimes it even feels like they do the presentation gets lost in terminology. Phrases like “Christmas in the stricter sense” or “The children find out that the apartments are decorated at Christmas” sometimes feel like they have been answered inaccurately, “ Tacheles” : is Advent celebrated there as Christmas or not? Now who is “right”?
Ideally, we might get to read relevant statements from parents, otherwise we would venture to assume at this point that there will be one or two exchanges about the definition of the terms “Christmas”. So the exit is open up to here.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )