The Christmas lecture organised by the Ultrafast Coherent Dynamics (ULTRA) working group and students from the physics student body and the jDPG took its audience into a world of physics that was as fascinating as it was surprising. The atmosphere in the large lecture theatre was lively, contemplative and full of wonder. It was shown with great enthusiasm that physics is far more than just formulae and diagrams. It combines sound, movement, light and fun.

The content ranged from the cosmic dimensions of colliding black holes, whose characteristic "chirp" was made audible, to the spectrograms of a beer bottle. The abstract concepts of physics were conveyed in a tangible and humorous way to viewers from a wide variety of fields. Prof Dr Matthias Wollenhaupt and Bernd Schwenker and their colleagues not only entertained the audience on a technical level. The audience was also enthralled by the live music, including jazz, gypsy swing and rock music, which was performed by a specially assembled band. In keeping with this, the physical explanations of vibrations, waves, the Doppler effect, chaos and spectral analysis were brought to life directly, be it with ropes swinging in the air or with whirly tubes. Music and physics merged into a common rhythm.

The experiments in particular were a source of amazement: in Rubens' flame tube, flames drew standing sound waves in the air, a water surface swung into the shape of a Christmas tree, the mysterious "black flame" of a sodium candle turned our usual way of seeing upside down and spectacular high-voltage discharges astonished the lecture theatre. This Christmas lecture was much more than just a lecture - it was an experience. With charm, creativity and scientific depth, it combined entertainment, education and insight in an extraordinary way. She left behind an enthusiastic audience who experienced physics for what it can be: wonderful, surprising and deeply inspiring.

We as the physics student body of the University of Oldenburg would like to say a big thank you to the contributors of the ULTRA working group and the jDPG regional group Oldenburg. The lecture was led by Prof Dr Matthias Wollenhaupt and Bernd Schwenker. Anja Gruhlke, Darius Köhnke, Emily Wöbken, Jenna Hendrix, Lars Englert, Lukas Oliveri, Leon David Schwarz, Timo Marks and other members also provided musical accompaniment and support for the experiments.

Text written by Eske Albert, pictures by Kai Hochmut and Dr Lars Englert.