Santa Claus made a surprise early appearance on Sunday Dec. 18 with an unconventional entrance at a Berlin cafe.
After a sack of presents dropped from his sleigh, Santa made a pit-stop at the Kollhoff Tower on Potsdamer Platz to retrieve it – delighting the children in the viewing station cafe inside.
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Rather than coming down the chimney as usual, he faced a dizzying climb from the top of the tower, some 100 metres up, down to the Panoramapunkt cafe on the 24th floor – with only a rickety rope ladder to help him.
The children watched in excitement as he greeted them through the windows before making his way inside to distribute presents.
Lucky German children normally receive two rounds of presents around Christmastime.
Small gifts like oranges and chocolate are left by St. Nicholas in shoes placed outside the front door on December 6, while the “Christkind” (Christ-child) delivers presents on December 24.
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