It could be said that Christmas is one of the oldest known refugee stories. In early September 2015, Thomas Dworzak covered the first arrival by train of Syrian and Afghan refugees in Munich. At that time, Chancellor Merkel had implemented her open-door refugee policy.

Three months later, with Christmas around the corner, Dworzak went back to his native Bavaria - a Catholic Conservative prosperous state he left in 1993 - to follow the evolution of the refugee situation.

Bavaria is the region that has welcomed the most refugees in Germany due to its southern border with Austria. Despite the official...