A man who describes himself as "crazy for Christmas" has broken the world record for the most Christmas trees in one home.
With no less than 444 Christmas trees crowding his apartment in the northern German town of Rinteln, Thomas Jeromin has set up and decorated plastic evergreens all over his home – in the hallway, bedroom, office and virtually every free space.
The Record Institute for Germany (RID) visited the 55-year-old and his wife Susanne in their home in the state of Lower Saxony on Dec 6 to certify the massive collection as a new world record for "most decorated Christmas trees in one place".
Jeromin says he needs some 47,000 Christmas lights to illuminate all the trees in the 100sq m flat he shares with his wife. 2021's Christmas effort marks an increase of more than 20 trees, and last year the Jeromins had 420 trees.
Not only are the trees unrivalled in number, they're even themed. One is dedicated exclusively to Star Wars decorations, while another only features squeaky ducks. He even has one tree – his largest, at 3.5m – that hangs from the ceiling.
Jeromin says he needs to start getting the trees down from the attic by August every year. After all, he has some 72,000 baubles to hang before Christmas.
When there isn't a pandemic going on, Jeromin also offers guided tours of his Christmas wonderland.
Galleries and cultural spaces are mostly open in Germany even in the midst of a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.
However, given the sheer number of Christmas trees in this apartment, there is simply not enough space for visitors to follow current regulations, the German records institute said.
You just can't keep a distance for all the trees. – dpa
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