Bacharach15 On the 31st December, there is the tradition of the Sternsinger (or star singers) who go from house to house, sing a song and collect money for charity (this is a predominantly Catholic tradition). They are 4 children, three who dress up like the Wise Men and one carries a star on a stick as a symbol for the Star of Bethlehem. When they're finished singing, they write a signature with chalk over the door of the house. The sign is written in a special way. It uses the current year and inserts C + M + B in the middle to represent the names of the Three Kings (Casper, Melchior, and Balthazzar). So Christmas 2006 would be: 20+C+M+B+06. It is also thought to represent the Latin phrase for “Christ bless this house” – “Christus mansionem benedicat” It is considered to be bad luck to wash the sign away - it has to fade by itself. It has usually faded by the 6th of January (Epiphany).