Weihnachtslotterie
(German Christmas Lottery)

Deutsche Weihnachtslotterie, which translates to ‘German Christmas Lottery’, is a game which takes place once a year and gives participants an opportunity to play for wonderful prizes at far more favourable odds than many other big draws around the world. Germany’s first Christmas lottery officially launched in November 2017, and tickets went on sale for the inaugural draw the following month.

The German Christmas Lottery was inspired by the 200-year-old Spanish Christmas lottery El Gordo de Navidad and it gives players five ways to win, whilst guaranteeing that one in 10 tickets wins a prize. The game is run by the Navidad Foundation, a non-profit organisation which gives back to various charities across Germany.

Tickets & Draw Times

The next draw will take place on Wednesday 26th December. The winning numbers will be available to view on the Results page shortly after the draw has taken place.

How to Play

Tickets for the Weihnachtslotterie cost €20. Players can take part online and just have to decide how many entries they would like. They will then be given a randomly generated five-digit code, giving them a number somewhere between 00000 and 99999.

Unlike a traditional raffle, there are an unlimited amount of tickets available in Weihnachtslotterie. Once all 100,000 number combinations have been used, a new ‘series’ will start. As many series will be sold as is necessary, so it is likely that multiple ticket holders will have the same number.

This means that it doesn’t matter how many players have the same number on their ticket. Prizes are not shared between winners, as the full advertised amount is guaranteed for every player with a matching ticket.

Prizes & Odds

Deutsche Weihnachtslotterie prizes range from €20 for matching just the last number of the first prize code, right up to €300,000 for matching the full five-digit winning number in the top tier.

The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 100,000, while the odds of winning any prize are better than 1 in 10. A prize fund of €649,000 per series is guaranteed, ensuring that 32.4% of the money raised from ticket sales will be returned to players.

The number of prizes available in each series and a breakdown of all the prize amounts can be found in the table below. In the top four tiers, players have to match the five-digit codes drawn exactly to win the corresponding prize. However, players who match just the final number of the first prize will also receive €20. For example, if the winning number for the first prize is 12345, any player whose final number is 5 will receive €20.

Prize Tier Total Number of Prizes Prize Value How to Win
First Prize 1 €300,000 Match the five-digit code exactly
Second Prize 2 €25,000 Match the five-digit code exactly
Third Prize 20 €2,500 Match the five-digit code exactly
Fourth Prize 200 €250 Match the five-digit code exactly
Fifth Prize 9,950 €20 Match the same last number as the first prize

Good Causes

While the Deutsche Weihnachtslotterie gives away thousands of guaranteed prizes in every draw, the main purpose of the game is to raise funds for good causes. The Navidad Foundation focuses on distributing the money that is not given out in prizes to various worthwhile projects.

The following three groups have been selected as the lottery’s primary beneficiaries:

As well as the three main beneficiaries, the Deutsche Weihnachtslotterie donates money to the Sauti Kuu Foundation, a group set up by Dr Auma Obama to support young children, while up to 1,000 sports clubs in Germany stand to receive €1,000 each from the Navidad Foundation.