At the southern end of the world, Christmas is also celebrated like in many German households: At the Neumayer III research station operated by Bremerhaven’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), there will be a feast with saddle of venison, red cabbage and napkin dumplings on Christmas Eve, as chef Eva Link revealed . For residents who don’t eat meat, she serves vegan braised goulash. “We’ll have a nice table,” Link said.
The deer saddle has been in the freezer for a long time: it was delivered on the last ship in January 2023. It was only recently that a ship was able to dock again after the winter months. Although it is summer, the temperature is comparatively mild with single-digit minus degrees, and it is still light at midnight, there has been an Advent atmosphere for weeks, said Link. The station is decorated with paper stars on the windows and artificial pine branches. Gingerbread and speculoos were also not missing.
Homemade items and a piano concert
However, there will hardly be any gifts, but that’s not a bad thing, said station manager Peter Frölich: “We’ve gotten so used to not going shopping that we don’t need anything new.” Last year, some homemade presents were given away to each other. The piano concert by a resident was much nicer. For Frölich and Link it is already the second Christmas at the end of the world. Both arrived in mid-December 2022 and remained in the ice with eight people as an overwintering team. In January 2024 we will go back to Germany.
