Update to “Modern Epiphany.” 
Wisdom will out.
When my village’s new modern standard for the Epiphany holiday–let’s call it “Dial a King”– baffled and discouraged me . . . and, worse yet, when I lost the phone number and couldn’t dial the Wise Men to request a visit, wisdom did out anyway.
Last night, the Heilige Drei Konig (3 holy kings) came to visit my home. Unbiden but hoped for, they appeared. Ahhh, life is sweet.
One hitch, though: I wasn’t home. My husband answered the door and filled me in on the visit later.
Minor detail. I don’t expect wisdom to settle upon me, but I am overjoyed that it still roams the world, blessing the unscheduled stragglers when the chance arises.
Happy New Year to all!
Travels and Tomes: One Expat's Amblings and Ramblings 
I saw something similar over a farmhouse door in Austria, wondered what it was, then forgot all about it. Your post reminded me to look it up – now I know.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year! Yes, the chalk markings indicate the Kings’ blessings of your house for the new year. Lovely tradition.
What a special day. We enjoyed our visit and even had 4 Holy Kings plus a young man that was tall enough to change the year on our door. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and have a very Happy New Year!
Thanks, Christmas was great and we are happily rolling into the new year. Best wishes for the new year for you and your family also. Did your kings sing, or are the sternsingers usually a separate entity altogether? (Our kings have never been singers, although they do carry a star with them.)
Thank you. Ours did sing and they did a wonderful job! We thought they were finished at one point and they continued, lovely. We are also rolling into the new year.
In our village (2200 residents), the Sternsinger go to every single house! The advantage to living in a small town… 🙂 Can you tell me what “Wisdom will out” or “Wisdom did out”? I have never heard that phrase before.
Your village sounds wonderful! Well, Shakespeare said “Truth will out,” meaning that the truth will find its way out, despite our efforts to cover it up. I was feeling a little discouraged that our wise kings were making visits only “by appointment” this year, and had hoped that “wisdom will out” despite the new system of dispensing it only where appointments were made. And somehow it did! The wise men found us, despite our slacker ways of forgetting to make an appointment. Happy New Year to you!
Happy New Year to you as well! Thank you for the explanation. I wondered if I’ve been gone long enough that American English is changing behind my back. 🙂