The tradition of the Advent calendar is a popular one throughout Germany. Each calendar has doors, one to be opened each day from December 1 until Christmas. Calendars can be handmade and stuffed with little chocolates or other items, or ready-made calendars can be found at department stores with everything from chocolates to tea to an assortment of beer. Cosmetics shops carry Advent calendars with perfumes, nail polish and other little surprises, and sports stores carry calendars with sports team motifs. They are purchased for children big and small, for loved ones and friends. Some even buy an Advent calendar for themselves just to be able to open a little door every day.

At the historic City Hall in Bonn city center, a new door is opened every day in the form of a festively lit up window. Every day there is one more lighted window until Christmas Eve when the entire historic building will be shining brightly with the Christmas spirit. The giant Christmas tree on the Marktplatz fits beautifully into the picture, painting a lovely Advent scene. The lights are energy conserving LEDs as the city administration tries to keep costs down in light of the big city budget deficit - even at Christmas time. (Orig. text: lis/ck)