Heinrich Böll: Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit

What if every evening was Christmas?

Aunt Milla doesn't let the horrors of the Second World War stop her from finally celebrating Christmas again in 1945. When her beloved Christmas tree is to be decorated and removed again in the new year, she suddenly suffers a nervous breakdown. Doctors are consulted without success until Uncle Franz finally finds the solution: He prescribes "Christmas tree therapy" for his wife. From then on, Christmas Eve is celebrated every evening - winter and summer, with all the trimmings and with the whole family.

However, after a while, the festive party grows tired of nibbling on speculoos and singing Christmas carols. Signs of decay manifest themselves in various forms. As time goes by, the guests are gradually replaced by actors for the evening celebrations. In the end, an unemployed stage manager manages the evening event without complaint for months. Eventually, the children have to be replaced by wax dummies.

In "Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit" (1952), Heinrich Böll takes a satirical look at the German post-war mentality and irrefutable Christmas routine. Packed into a humorous narrative, he subtly criticizes the lack of reappraisal in the early post-war years.

Actor Dietmar Bär plays the witty narrator, while classical percussionist and sound artist Stefan Weinzierl plays atypical Christmas melodies with his unusual instruments.

"In war, people sing, shoot, talk, fight, starve and die - and bombs are thrown - all unpleasant things that I don't want to bore my contemporaries by mentioning in any way." (Heinrich Böll)

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