Christmas turned out to be smaller for many people in the corona pandemic. A family from northern Saxony waited until summer to enjoy roast duck in a big group.
Schkeuditz – After Corona thwarted the bill last December, a family in northern Saxony made up for their big Christmas dinner in midsummer.
Martina and Dietmar Sawatzke dined with friends and family on Sunday evening in a festively decorated atmosphere in Hayna. On the menu was Barbarie duck breast with red cabbage and dumplings. 15 shining poinsettias on the ceiling and a tree with 60 candles created that festive atmosphere in July that the Sawatzkes usually like in December.
“Our last Christmas was very small. Like everywhere. Anyone who was a little sensible did it that way, ”said Dietmar Sawatzke. The 70-year-old has three children and six grandchildren. Normally on Christmas Eve “the whole group” gathers in the “Christmas room”. Sawatzke set up the large room in the threshing floor of his former farm a few years ago. In addition to Christmas, the family also celebrates birthdays and other festivals there. “I was sitting alone with my wife on New Year’s Eve and watched TV. My wife always said: “That was nothing this time. We have to make up for that!” “
Christmas has always been important to her, says Martina Sawatzke (70). “This is a nice family celebration. We enjoy it. Some don’t like it, but we like it. ”For Dietmar Sawatzke, the rituals are particularly important. He shows his technology cabinet, which he has hidden behind wallpaper in the wall. There is Heintjes record “White Christmas” on the record player. “It is always part of it. I don’t even know where I got it from. That’s a West record, ”he said with a laugh.
Alicia (8), the youngest granddaughter of the Sawatzkes, thinks it’s “cool” that grandma and grandpa have invited them to Christmas dinner this summer. But how big is the appetite for duck, red cabbage and dumplings when it’s 25 degrees outside? “Oh,” says Martina Sawatzke happily, “I can always eat that.” Dpa
