The Christkind (German "Christ-child", pronounced [ˈkʁɪstkɪnt]) is the traditional Christmas gift-bringer in regions of Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, parts of Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary, parts of Hispanic America, in certain areas of southern Brazil and in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. In Italy it is called Gesù Bambino and in Portugal Menino Jesus (Italian and Portuguese for "Baby Jesus"), in Hungary its name is Jézuska (Hungarian for "Little Jesus"), in Slovakia Ježiško ("Little Jesus") and in the Czech Republic Ježíšek ("Little Jesus").

Promulgated by Martin Luther, explicitly to discourage the figure of St. Nicholas, at the Reformation in 16th-17th century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve. A gift-bringer familiar to German children, the Christkind bears little resemblance to the infant of Bethlehem. The Christkind was adopted in Catholic areas during the 19th century, while it began to be, in a rather surprising turnabout, gradually replaced by a more or less secularized version of Saint Nicholas, the Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas, Santa Claus) in Protestant regions.

Hermann Prey (11 July 1929 – 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, best known for his lieder renditions and for light comic roles in opera.

Hermann Prey was born in Berlin and grew up in Germany. He was scheduled to be drafted when World War II ended. He studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and won the prize of the Frankfurt contest of the Hessischer Rundfunk in 1952.

He began to sing in song recitals and made his operatic debut the next year in Wiesbaden. He joined the Staatsoper, where he sang until 1960. During his last years in Hamburg, he also made frequent guest appearances elsewhere, including the Salzburg Festival.

He sang frequently at the Metropolitan Opera between 1960 and 1970 and made his Bayreuth debut in 1965. Although he often sang Verdi early in his career, he later concentrated more on Mozart and Richard Strauss. Prey was well known for playing Figaro (Mozart and Rossini), but he played other Mozart roles at least equally often, particularly Papageno and Guglielmo. He also played, and recorded, the Count in The Marriage of Figaro. He is regarded by many as the best Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus operetta.

Carl August Peter Cornelius (24 December 1824 – 26 October 1874) was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator.

He was born in Mainz.

Cornelius played violin and composed lieder from an early age, studying with Tekla Griebel-Wandall and composition with Heinrich Esser in 1841. Cornelius lived with his painter uncle Peter von Cornelius in Berlin from 1844 to 1852, during which time he met prominent figures such as Alexander von Humboldt, the Brothers Grimm, Friedrich Rückert and Felix Mendelssohn.

Cornelius's first mature works (including the opera Der Barbier von Bagdad) were composed during his brief stay in Weimar (1852–1858). His next place of residence was Vienna, where he stayed for five years. It was in Vienna that Cornelius began a friendship with Richard Wagner. It was at Wagner's behest that Cornelius moved to Munich in 1864, where he finally took a wife and fathered four children.

Among many British musicians, his best known work is The Three Kings, an Epiphany anthem of which a version is included in the first volume of the popular Willcocks and Jacques compilation Carols for Choirs.

Oliver Kalkofe (born 12 September 1965 in Hanover) is a German satirist, columnist, book author and actor.

Kalkofe grew up in Langenhagen-Engelbostel near Hanover and in Peine. After passing the Abitur in 1984 Kalkofe finished his training as a foreign language correspondent clerk and interpreter in English and French before enrolling at the University of Münster to major in media and communication studies.

In 1990 he joined the Frühstyxradio, a comedy show on commercial radio station ffn. Broadcast on Sunday mornings, the shows had a theme and were presented by fictional hosts, with episodes of various ongoing series and stand-alone sketches more or less dealing with that theme. Kalkofe developed and voiced a variety of characters and series for the show.

He gained popularity on a national level with the TV show Kalkofes Mattscheibe on German pay TV network Premiere, which he had adapted for television in 1994 from his Frühstyxradio series of the same name. In it he shows clips from German TV and comments on them or parodies them. In 1996 he was awarded the Adolf-Grimme-Preis for the show.