Emotional moments with the FIEGE Christmas Express

Advent means arrival - and last Monday, seven individuals and families in the Münsterland region were astonished when the FIEGE Christmas Express pulled up on their front door. On board this year were the Preussen players Thorben Deters and Lukas Frenkert, who accompanied the FIEGE Christmas Express on a route of more than 150 kilometers from Münster via Reken, Nottuln and Telgte to Lengerich. In their luggage: a home jersey of SC Preussen Münster and a department store voucher worth 800 euros, which was presented to the winners including a private autograph session.

In total, almost 100 applications were received, telling moving stories of people who have had anything but an easy time of it this year. The jury, consisting of Ole Kittner (Managing Director Sport at Preussen), Marc Lorenz (Team captain of Preussen), our Board member Martin Rademaker and Executive Director Marketing & Communications, Sarah Schimmelpfennig, ultimately chose seven winners instead of the six originally planned. Martin Rademaker explains: "There were more entries this year than ever before. Of course, we are delighted that the campaign is reaching more and more people in the Münsterland region - but at the same time, we found it particularly difficult to select those who should be visited by the Christmas Express. The only thing that was easy for us was the decision to add a seventh stop. We were touched by the stories of the winners and also those who didn't make it into the top seven.

Stories that get under your skin

There was the story of the young Preussen fan who had to undergo open-heart surgery this year and moreover lost his godfather . There was the story of the season ticket holder who doesn't know how much time he has left because of a tumor. Or the story of the three-year-old boy who has undergone multiple surgeries for a brain tumor and whose parents have given up their jobs to care for their child. There was the family with children aged nine and eleven who lost their father too early last summer. There was the 19-year-old Preussen fan who cannot go to the stadium because of a mental disability. There was the single mother with her 15-month-old daughter whose husband died this spring. And there was the brave wife and mother who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis ten years ago, has been suffering from epileptic seizures ever since, and has had to deal with sudden fainting spells - but she doesn't let it get her down.

"The stories take a lot out of me and I have to digest them," says Thorben Deters, who this time was on his third trip with the FIEGE Christmas Express. "The date is incredibly important to me every year because it's nice to see how happy people are about our visit. If we can bring them a little joy at a difficult time, then we should definitely do it - especially at Christmas. And Lukas Frenkert, who participated for the first time this year, added: "I wish all the winners we met today all the best and lots of strength for the future. The visits made us realise that happiness and health are anything but a given - and how grateful we should be when everyone close to us is well.”