No, German police didn’t arrest Santa for not wearing a mask

Humbug in Hamburg — or Stralsund, Germany, where some social media posts claim a Santa Claus was arrested by police at a Christmas market because he wasn’t wearing a face mask. 

"Santa Claus arrested by German police for not wearing a mask," the title of one blog post says. 

But that’s not quite right. 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

There’s video of the incident, which happened at night and shows masked police officers talking to a man dressed as Santa Claus before frog-marching him away and then carrying him when he refuses to walk. 

The Santa is wearing a sign that says 2G, which in Germany stands for genesen (recovered in the past six months) and geimpft (vaccinated), according to the BBC. It’s become shorthand for new policies in the country restricting where unvaccinated people can go in public. 

Featured Fact-check

Social Media

stated on September 30, 2024 in in social media posts

“Biden Announces: ‘2.4 billion more to Ukraine’ but ‘no more aid for Hurricane Helene.’”

On Dec. 14, state police in the region posted a statement online that the person arrested was protesting COVID-19 restrictions. The demonstration was unregistered — and illegal, according to police — and he was taken to a patrol car "to determine his identity" after he refused to give his name to police. He was then released, about an hour after police responded to the protest. 

The statement doesn’t mention a mask. 

We rate this claim False.