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  • Favorite Christmas book of Christine Lötscher, professor of popular literatures and media, with a concentration in children’s and young adult media: While it may have what looks like a big golden bauble on its cover, my favorite Christmas book actually has nothing at all to do with Christmas. Except for maybe that Faszination Krake. Wesen einer unbekannten Welt is the perfect Christmas gift. For children who want to find out about marine life, but also enjoy exciting stories, stunning pictures, plays on words and handicrafts. Some grown-ups may even want to keep the book for themselves. I’ve always been fascinated by these clever, tentacled creatures, and now I finally know why. Michael Stavarič (Text)/Michèle Ganser (Illustration): Faszination Krake. Wesen einer unbekannten Welt. Graz/Wien: Leykam Kinderbuch 2021.
    Favorite Christmas book of Christine Lötscher, professor of popular literatures and media, with a concentration in children’s and young adult media: While it may have what looks like a big golden bauble on its cover, my favorite Christmas book actually has nothing at all to do with Christmas. Except for maybe that Faszination Krake. Wesen einer unbekannten Welt is the perfect Christmas gift. For children who want to find out about marine life, but also enjoy exciting stories, stunning pictures, plays on words and handicrafts. Some grown-ups may even want to keep the book for themselves. I’ve always been fascinated by these clever, tentacled creatures, and now I finally know why. Michael Stavarič (Text)/Michèle Ganser (Illustration): Faszination Krake. Wesen einer unbekannten Welt. Graz/Wien: Leykam Kinderbuch 2021.
  • Favorite Christmas painting of David Ganz, chair and professor of medieval art history, Institute of Art History: The small painting Nativity at Night by Dutch painter Geertgen tot sint Jans (c. 1465–1495) tells the story about how light came into the world at Christmas. In the painting, the light isn’t coming from the moon or stars, but from the newborn child in the manger. Touched by his warm glow, Mary and several angels emerge from among the surrounding darkness – an incredibly impressive scene of illumination. The idea of Christmas as the birth of light dates back to early Christianity. But this painting, created around 1490, is one of the first to show the newborn as the source of light amid the darkness.
    Favorite Christmas painting of David Ganz, chair and professor of medieval art history, Institute of Art History: The small painting Nativity at Night by Dutch painter Geertgen tot sint Jans (c. 1465–1495) tells the story about how light came into the world at Christmas. In the painting, the light isn’t coming from the moon or stars, but from the newborn child in the manger. Touched by his warm glow, Mary and several angels emerge from among the surrounding darkness – an incredibly impressive scene of illumination. The idea of Christmas as the birth of light dates back to early Christianity. But this painting, created around 1490, is one of the first to show the newborn as the source of light amid the darkness.
  • Favorite Christmas music of Laurenz Lütteken, chair and professor at the Department of Musicology: This is perhaps an unusual choice: In 1937, Walter Braunfels, dismissed by the Nazis and unable to perform his work, composed his opera Verkündigung after Paul Cladel. The climax of this serious work is the Nativity scene at the end of the third act, in which, among a choir of angels singing, heaven opens up to Violäne, blind and betrayed – it’s overwhelmingly haunting Christmas music that, once heard, won’t be forgotten.
    Favorite Christmas music of Laurenz Lütteken, chair and professor at the Department of Musicology: This is perhaps an unusual choice: In 1937, Walter Braunfels, dismissed by the Nazis and unable to perform his work, composed his opera Verkündigung after Paul Cladel. The climax of this serious work is the Nativity scene at the end of the third act, in which, among a choir of angels singing, heaven opens up to Violäne, blind and betrayed – it’s overwhelmingly haunting Christmas music that, once heard, won’t be forgotten.
  • Favorite Christmas movie of Simon Spiegel, privatdozent and academic associate at the Department of Film Studies: Some might prefer Love Actually or It’s a Wonderful Life, but true cinephiles know that when it comes to Christmas movies, nothing beats John McTiernan’s Die Hard, in which Bruce Willis faces off against a gang of German terrorists led by Alan Rickman. It’s not truly Christmas until Alan Rickman’s character Hans Gruber plunges to his death from the top of the Nakatomi Towers, and Willis and Bonnie Bedelia drive off in a limo to the tune of Let It Snow.
    Favorite Christmas movie of Simon Spiegel, privatdozent and academic associate at the Department of Film Studies: Some might prefer Love Actually or It’s a Wonderful Life, but true cinephiles know that when it comes to Christmas movies, nothing beats John McTiernan’s Die Hard, in which Bruce Willis faces off against a gang of German terrorists led by Alan Rickman. It’s not truly Christmas until Alan Rickman’s character Hans Gruber plunges to his death from the top of the Nakatomi Towers, and Willis and Bonnie Bedelia drive off in a limo to the tune of Let It Snow.
  • Favorite Christmas memory of Konrad Schmid, chair and professor of Old Testament studies and early Jewish religious history: My most memorable Christmas recollection is a discussion I had with my father, professor of theology Hans Heinrich Schmid (1937-2014), when I was 15. We talked about the meaning of Christmas and discussed the poem Weihnacht (1942) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. I was very critical of Christmas as a teenager, and yet I found Dürrenmatt’s poem a little too bleak. This discussion with my father was one of the reasons why I decided to study theology.
    Favorite Christmas memory of Konrad Schmid, chair and professor of Old Testament studies and early Jewish religious history: My most memorable Christmas recollection is a discussion I had with my father, professor of theology Hans Heinrich Schmid (1937-2014), when I was 15. We talked about the meaning of Christmas and discussed the poem Weihnacht (1942) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. I was very critical of Christmas as a teenager, and yet I found Dürrenmatt’s poem a little too bleak. This discussion with my father was one of the reasons why I decided to study theology.
  • Favorite Christmas song of Inga Mai Groote, chair and professor at the Department of Musicology: For many people who sing in a choir, the song Es ist ein Ros entsprungen is a fixture in the holiday season. When I was a student, every Christmas concert of the choir I was in concluded with this song. I’ve now come across it again as a scholar, because it was written by one of my “research subjects”, Michael Praetorius, who can teach us a lot about musicians’ careers and musical innovation in the 17th century. He didn't compose the melody, but created the arrangement that everyone knows.
    Favorite Christmas song of Inga Mai Groote, chair and professor at the Department of Musicology: For many people who sing in a choir, the song Es ist ein Ros entsprungen is a fixture in the holiday season. When I was a student, every Christmas concert of the choir I was in concluded with this song. I’ve now come across it again as a scholar, because it was written by one of my “research subjects”, Michael Praetorius, who can teach us a lot about musicians’ careers and musical innovation in the 17th century. He didn't compose the melody, but created the arrangement that everyone knows.
  • Favorite Christmas gift of Philippe Tobler, assistant professor of neuroeconomics and social neuroscience: Spending time with the people we love and cherish. This can be family, but it doesn’t have to be. Friendship makes us stronger and helps us be a little less self-absorbed.
    Favorite Christmas gift of Philippe Tobler, assistant professor of neuroeconomics and social neuroscience: Spending time with the people we love and cherish. This can be family, but it doesn’t have to be. Friendship makes us stronger and helps us be a little less self-absorbed.