When tens of thousands of visitors gather at dm-Arena Karlsruhe over just a few days, a 400-strong choir joins band, brass, strings and actors to bring an elaborately staged Christmas story to life, while around 2,000 volunteers work behind the scenes. The result is ‘Weihnachten neu erleben’ – a large-scale charity arena production. Widely regarded as Germany’s largest charity Christmas show, the event takes place every two years. Across four performance days, ten shows are staged for audiences of around 7,500 each, while the production is also broadcast on television and made available online. Proceeds support a range of social initiatives, including the Arche Karlsruhe children’s charity. The most recent edition raised approximately €540,000 in donations.
GLP has supported the project for several years as both sponsor and technical partner. The latest edition once again featured a lighting system built around several hundred GLP fixtures, realized in collaboration with technical service provider Crystal Sound. On behalf of Crystal Sound, overall project management was led by Peter Staudt.
A Volunteer-Based Organization Operating to Professional Standards
Overall lighting responsibility rested with Tobias Knappenberger, who led the entire process from creative concept and technical planning through to delivery during the live show run, coordinating a five-person operator team. By profession, he is an electrical engineer; within the live production sector he is active in church-based projects on a voluntary basis and works freelance as a lighting operator and designer. Roni Huber additionally supported the team in an advisory role as lighting consultant.
Complex Stage Architecture as the Foundation of the Lighting Design
The stage comprised a large main performance area with a second level, flanked by the 400-member choir alongside band, brass and strings. Rising behind it was a multi-layered scaffold structure incorporating several scenic levels, including a ‘scrapyard’ with crane, an office above the stage, a five-story workshop tower and an exhibition area. A backdrop measuring approximately 164 feet wide by 39 feet high completed the set. This vertical architecture provided numerous lighting positions across multiple levels, helping to emphasize the spatial depth of the stage.
Extensive GLP Rig Across the Entire Performance Space
A key element of the system was 26 impression X5 IP Maxx fixtures, providing powerful front light for the 400-strong choir while also structuring the main stage area as sidelight. Complementing this, 66 impression X5 fixtures installed in the overhead rig delivered even top light across the entire scenic area, including the catwalk, forming the lighting foundation for the production.
“The X5 IP Maxx proved highly convincing both as front light for the large choir and as sidelight. Its output is tremendous, enabling broad wash looks across the full stage as well as very defined beam effects,” says Tobias Knappenberger.
For dynamic accents, 32 JDC Burst 1 units were positioned in a floor-mounted setup across two stage levels and within the ‘scrapyard’ area, visually reinforcing musical cues and dramatic tension. Integrated vertically into the stage towers were 30 JDC Line 1000 fixtures, emphasizing the height and scale of the scaffold structures and serving as both structural and effect lighting, particularly during large musical passages.
A defining visual layer was created by 110 WildBar 16 fixtures, installed as continuous stage-edge lighting spanning the full width of the main stage. At the same time, they enabled broad illumination of the backdrop from above and below, as well as large-scale backlight and show lighting looks.
GLP Matrix Eye systems were also deployed for audience integration and classic blinder effects: 24 Matrix Eye 2 units were distributed throughout the set and installed as backlight above the audience seating, while 56 Matrix Eye 4 fixtures were positioned in the overhead rig above both stage and audience, delivering powerful blinder effects.
Throughout the production period, the system ran reliably without any significant failures.
‘Weihnachten neu erleben’ is led by ICF Karlsruhe and supported by numerous Protestant and Catholic communities. With tens of thousands of visitors, thousands of participants and a technically ambitious production, it ranks among the largest volunteer-run live events in Germany.
“GLP has supported social initiatives such as the Arche Karlsruhe for many years and regularly organizes fundraising activities. Community engagement in our local region is very important to us. We are delighted to contribute to this meaningful cause with our products. Our thanks go to ICF Karlsruhe as initiator, as well as to the many volunteers who make both this production and its charitable mission possible,” says Udo Künzler, Managing Director of GLP. “We are proud to remain part of ‘Weihnachten’ neu erleben in the future.”
Photo Credits: Marcel Lutz
