In 1862, Theodor Strom saw little golden lights sitting everywhere on the tops of the firs.
A century and a half later, some wonder whether the now electrified light on the Christmas tree is still appropriate in view of the energy crisis.
This is what happened to a colleague in the editorial office, whose wife questioned the need for such lighting, which only served to set the mood and not the brightness.
A look at the label of the light chain can help, it works with light emitting diodes and has a maximum power of 6.5 watts on the rectifier.
Since, like everything electrical, it has a certain power loss, a precautionary measure is to calculate with a power consumption of seven watts.
If we assume that the chain is in operation from the first day of Advent to the Epiphany, namely from 5 p.m. to 2 p.m., this comes to 294 hours, which we round up to 300 in case the family in staying up late on Christmas Eve.
This results in a power consumption of 2.1 kilowatt hours.
If electricity is charged at 40 cents per kilowatt hour, operating the fairy lights will put a strain on the household budget at 84 cents - given all the expenses for gifts, banquets,
Another colleague gets subtle and asks: But if everyone does it like this, what then?
Then it's time to calculate.
There are around 40 million households in Germany.
If we conservatively assume a Christmas tree density of 90 percent, the 2.1 kilowatt hours have to be produced 36 million times.
We are therefore talking about an increase in electricity demand of 75.6 gigawatt hours.
It sounds gigantic, but it actually corresponds roughly to the amount that three German wind turbines produce within a year.
That's why our recommendation is: Let the little lights come to us and switch off the ceiling light.
Maybe then what Storm ended with will come true: "Then Christ Child himself will come in to you with his candlelight."