Category: Music

Presenter rainer ludwig offered a somewhat different christmas to the almost 700 visitors in the dr.-stammberger hall – at least during the main part of "the magic of christmas. Far away from sentimentalism and superficial showmanship, the interpreters took the stage. Their music delighted heart and soul and expressed piety.

First the soli of premiere guest mario K. From the zillertal with the styrian harmonica, who impressed with his bright voice and prepared the ground for an evening full of silence and sustainability.

Followed by the "kastelruther mannerquartett, rustic guys from the heart of sudtirol, equipped with an impressive clean articulation and a full volume. Stefan, josef, robert and ewald have mastered the concertante, sacral dramaturgy of choral singing. The four intoned "bajazzo", "la montanara" or "marie betlemme beautiful. The tyrolean folk songs spread pure melancholy and the wish for a fairer world. The lyrics were read by helga mahlknecht, yodeling onomatopoeia embellished the whole thing.

Michael lane was not always the shy and reserved type he is now in the casting show "the voice of germany the audience appeared. In fact, until six years ago, when he had to go to war for the first time for the u.S. Army, he was a very funny person, who also does crazy things spontaneously from time to time. "When we were kids, mike was always allowed to choose cornflakes at our grandma's house, says matthias neuner, the cousin of the talented singer. "But he didn't want to give me any of it. That's why he always grabbed the pack and climbed up on the roof of my grandparents' house so I couldn't get at it. He knew exactly that I was afraid of climbing after him."

Even later, the half-american was always good for an entertaining interlude. At the graduation party of niner's girlfriend stefanie niebler, for example, michael stood on a ping-pong table when all the guests were about to leave and performed a piece from an italian opera. "There were about 200 people, and all the people who had already left turned around and came back", tells niner. And during a visit to a disco together, the 26-year-old is said to have suddenly danced naked on a podium. "And by that I mean really naked, he didn't even have any underpants on anymore," says, neuner reports with a smile.

Traumatic war experiences
But then the always funny young man enlisted in the u.S. Army – his cousin suspects he did so mainly because he never really felt comfortable in the u.S. And secretly hoped to be stationed in germany. This wish also came true. For about one and a half years he came to the vicinity of ansbach. During that time he spent every weekend with his german friends and family, then michael lane had to go to war – first to afghanistan, then to iraq. This time had a great impact on the former spabvogel – and also changed him. "It was like night and day when he came back", emphasizes neuner's girlfriend steffi niebler.

The signal tone of the children's carousel, which announces the departure, warned in vain on sunday: horses, swans and carriages remained empty. Not a child in sight far and wide.

Rain – and no end! It was lucky for the hochstadt old town festival that the sky only opened its floodgates at dawn on sunday. The people of hochstadt had been able to enjoy their most popular festival to the full for two days. In the craftsmen's yard behind the town hall, three vendors looked at the empty foursquare.
Gunter siebenhaar of the gremsdorf brass band wondered, in view of the empty bench, whether his musicians should set up at all. Finally they decided to play after all.

Undaunted dancers
In the meantime there was dancing under the tent roof in the castle courtyard. About a dozen "line dancers" moved undaunted to the sounds of the country band "loose moose. With and without cowboy hats they had come from nurnberg, priesendorf, forchheim and hochstadt. The rough crowd – the city expected 300 to 500 fans – was missing, however.