Problem solved by changing the shadow settings on preferences while being on the character selection screen.
see here : https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/125528-crash-loading-character-merged/page/2/#comment-1817669
Same Here.
Played this afternoon and everything was fine. Wanted to play this evening after Winterday update. Everytime i get to the Character selection screen and while loading the map - i tried it with every charakter - the game crashes.