Barbara Schöneberger hosts a “Do you understand fun?” Christmas show. She is also looking forward to the festival in her personal life, she reveals in an interview.
Moderator Barbara Schöneberger (49) is already looking forward to Christmas with her loved ones. “I live in a mega-harmonious extended family, everyone celebrates together, everyone comes. It’s not at all like it often is with others: with all the stress and arguments,” enthuses the presenter in an interview with the news agency spot on news. The 49-year-old also creates a Christmas atmosphere on TV. On December 16th she will present a festive Christmas edition of “Do you understand fun?”. The Erste and ORF broadcast the program from 8:15 p.m.
What does Christmas look like in your house?
Schöneberger: My private taste is that green and red is a terrible combination. After I give in to the Christmas madness and my family’s pre-Christmas feeling, everything is of course decorated – then in the classic way. I don’t have the silver-purple garland with any velvet bows on it, but everything is really classic red and green with real fir and amaryllis. I made 15 meters of real garland that now surrounds various doors and fireplaces here. And my tree is huge and very beautifully decorated. Well, I think that’s great. But I have to be honest, as soon as January 1st arrives, all of that goes out the window for me. Then the beautiful tulips come back to the table.
Is there a Christmas tradition that is particularly close to your heart during this time?
Schöneberger: Yes, of course, I mean, ultimately family life is always characterized by rituals. Of course, the children also demand this and it always has to be the same. I think rituals are a wonderful thing, especially at festivals like this. And that doesn’t bother me at all. However, I also live in a mega-harmonious extended family, everyone celebrates together, everyone comes, there are 20 of us. It’s not at all like it often is with others: with all the stress and arguments. Adults don’t give each other anything anymore, which is wonderful.
Don’t let yourself get stressed at all?
Schöneberger: I think you have to force yourself to be calm. The 23rd is always the craziest day of the year. And every year I think to myself, why am I actually doing this? Because it’s so busy and tiring: until a tree like this stands, and then it has to be attached to the wall, until it’s decorated, and every time someone almost falls off the ladder and so on… But somehow it is then always great and I don’t think I want to just celebrate Christmas at Larifari and then fly to the Maldives.
Do you think it’s good that adults don’t give each other gifts anymore?
Schöneberger: It was even my idea! I’ll be 50 next year. I have everything. I don’t need a man to give me an Hermès scarf or a gold ring. If I feel like buying a Hermès scarf, I go out and buy it. And that’s why I wouldn’t take the risk of saying to my husband that I would like a scarf like that, and then he comes and buys it for me in green and blue, and I want it in red and yellow. I find this all totally stupid.
So you don’t want anything more for Christmas?
Schöneberger: To be honest, I spend quite a lot of money every day… I find it absurd to say at Christmas: “Now I’m going to buy a cashmere sweater with a V-neck.” This is about the only day of the year when I don’t buy anything and don’t want anything. So I do it exactly the other way around.
What is the weirdest Christmas present you have ever received?
Schöneberger: Funnily enough, I once received a lot of things with pigs for a while. Singing pigs, bags of pigs… But with a corresponding hint it stopped again. I heard they were supposed to bring luck and money, but I still took the risk of earning less.
Do you have any resolutions for the New Year?
Schöneberger: I will continue to work a lot because I want to get a few things done in my life before it is out of my control whether I am still employed or not. That’s why I’ll probably give it a lot of steam again next year. Unfortunately, this leads to other things that I would actually like to stop doing, namely: constantly moving at a jog and always being “on the run”. As long as it doesn’t stress me out, I’ll keep doing it like that for a while.
Are there things that you keep trying to do and then fail to do?
Schöneberger: I do a lot of sport. To be honest, every free minute of my week I go to a studio. I already do that. I always think that you need to be able to control yourself a little better when eating. Now I’ve known for 50 years that I won’t succeed, not even in 2024. And I have fun with my life.
What projects are coming up in the coming year?
Schöneberger: Everything just goes on like it did this year: And then it’s already full of “Because you don’t know what’s happening!”, “Do you understand fun?”, the NDR talk show and the big events that always happen coming up: whether it’s the “ESC” or the star nights for the ORF and a few galas. I also do radio every day, including my podcast. Then the year is already full.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
