We’ve been looking forward to it for weeks – and Christmas is almost over. It doesn’t matter how we ultimately spent the holidays, what will stay with us from them is mostly the memory of a few days off from “normal” everyday life. After the coronavirus pandemic ensured that Christmas could only be celebrated with restrictions in recent years, a little more normality was possible again this year. And that worldwide.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s in Australia, America or Africa, Europe or Asia – it was evident everywhere that people were taking part in traditional events again, meeting in groups and celebrating Christmas together and exuberantly. These are images that many of us have missed for a long time, some without even knowing it: exuberant Australians playing soccer, hundreds of Britons swimming on ice or the South Korean Prime Minister in Santa Claus costume.
But there were also hopeful images from countries that are currently having anything but easy times: despite the war, the people of Ukraine celebrated Christmas together, set up illuminated Christmas trees and enjoyed the small joys of everyday life – despite air raids from the Russian side. How exactly that looked and how other countries celebrated Christmas this year, we show you in our photo series.