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Children bring blessings and collect donations against child labor
The town hall in Groß-Gerau received a visit from the carol singers on Friday morning. Five girls and boys from the Catholic parish group Groß-Gerau/Büttelborn (St. Walburga and St. Nicholas of Flüe) came to the town hall on the market square together with their supervisor Michaela Feike and Tobias Sattler.
With songs, Amelie, Anna-Lena, Johanna, Jule and Manuel recalled the story of the Three Wise Men Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, who followed the star to the manger of Jesus and presented him with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Blessing ceremony in the mayor's office
Using chalk, the children and young people aged five to 14 wrote the traditional blessing
“20*C+M+B+26 – May Christ bless this house” .
Representing Mayor Jörg Rüddenklau, who was on vacation, honorary city councilor Ilse Scheuner welcomed the carol singers and thanked them warmly for their efforts. Carol singing is considered the world's largest solidarity campaign by children for children.
Visited approximately 200 households
Since January 2nd, a total of 15 children and ten chaperones from the parish group of Groß-Gerau/Büttelborn have visited around 200 households. They have also visited, among other places, the district hospital, retirement homes, the Volksbank and Sparkasse banks, and the district administration office.
Action 2026 with a focus on child labor
The focus country for this year's campaign is Bangladesh. The campaign's main objective is the fight against child labor. "We are raising money for children in Bangladesh so they can go back to school," Johanna explained.
The motto of the 2026 campaign is "School instead of factory – carol singing against child labor" . According to the Pontifical Mission Societies in Germany, "Die Sternsinger" (The Star Singers), around 138 million children between the ages of five and 17 work worldwide, of whom approximately 54 million work under particularly exploitative and hazardous conditions.
The nationwide Epiphany carol singing campaign is organized by the Pontifical Mission Societies in Germany (the "Star Singers") and the Federation of German Catholic Youth. In 2025, the Star Singers collected approximately 48 million euros. Since the campaign began in 1959, a total of about 1.4 billion euros has been raised, which has been used for aid projects for children in around 90 countries worldwide.
The carol singers of the parish group Groß-Gerau/Büttelborn will be stopping at the Groß-Gerau market square Saturday, January 10, 2026 , from 9 to 9:30 a.m.
(Gross-Gerau-Red/PSGG)
