Saint Nicholas, also known as Nikolaus in Germany and Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, is the common name for the historical Saint Nicholas of Myra, who lived in 4th century Byzantine Anatolia, (now in modern Turkey) and had a reputation for secret gift-giving. This is as much as is generally known about him in the West. Among Orthodox Christians, he is remembered with more reverence and less frivolity.
Saint Nicholas Day is a festivity for children in much of Europe related to surviving legends of the saint, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts. The American and British Santa Claus derives from this festivity, the name 'Santa Claus' being a degeneration of the Dutch word "Sinterklaas". By contrast, the Orthodox Church remembers him as an important archbishop of Anatolia who defended Christianity from the Arian heresy at the First Council of Nicaea.
Some elements of the Saint Nicholas tradition are traced back to the Germanic god Wodan (Odin). The appearance is similar to some portrayals of this god. In the Saint Nicholas tradition in the Netherlands he rides a horse over the rooftops, and this may be derived from Odin's riding through the sky. Also his assistants, the Zwarte Pieten (black Peters) may be a remnant of the raven that accompanied Wodan.
The history of the Saint Nicholas celebration is complex and reflects the conflicts between Protestantism and Catholicism (ignoring the very different traditions surrounding the saint among Orthodox Christians). Since Nicholas was a Catholic saint, Martin Luther replaced the Catholic festivity with a "Christkind" (Christ child) celebration on Christmas Eve. The Nicholas celebrations still remain a part of tradition among many Protestants, however, albeit on a much lower scale than Christmas. The Protestant Netherlands, however, retain a much larger Saint Nicholas tradition. Many Catholics, on the other hand, have adopted Luther's Christkind.
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In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot, called Nikolaus-Stiefel, outside their front doors on the night of December 5 to December 6. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good. If they were not, they will have charcoal in their boots instead. Sometimes a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they "have been good" (sometimes ostensibly checking a book for their record), handing out presents on a per-behavior basis. This has become more lenient in recent decades.
But for many children, Nikolaus also elicited fear, as he was often accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, who would threaten to beat, or sometimes actually beat the children for misbehavior. In Switzerland, he would threaten to put bad children in a sack and take them back to the Black Forest. In other accounts he would throw the sack into the river, drowning the naughty children within. These traditions were implemented more rigidly in Catholic countries such as Austria. In highly Catholic regions, the local priest was informed by the parents about their children's behavior and would then personally visit the homes in the traditional Christian garment and threaten them with rod-beatings. In parts of Austria, Krampusse, whom local tradition says are Nikolaus's helpers (in reality, typically children of poor families), roamed the streets during the festival. They wore masks and dragged chains behind them, even occasionally hurling them towards children in their way. These Krampusläufe (Krampus runs) still exist, although perhaps less violent than in the past.
For small children in the Netherlands, Sinterklaasavond (St Nicholas evening) is much more important than Christmas. In recent years, some Dutch have started to celebrate Christmas Eve with Santa as well.
On the evening of December 5, Sinterklaas brings presents to every child that has been good in the past year (in practice to all children). Sinterklaas wears a red bishop's dress including a red mitre, rides a white horse over the rooftops of houses and is assisted by many helpers with soot black faces and colorful Moorish dresses, dating back two centuries. These helpers are called 'zwarte Pieten' (black Peters).
Sinterklaas has a long white beard, holds a long gold colored staff with a fancy curled top in his hand and carries a big book with all the children's actions written in it.
Each year Sinterklaas arrives by steamboat 'from Spain', and is then paraded through the streets of the town he arrives in (actually in every town of the Netherlands), welcomed by cheering and singing children. His zwarte Pieten throw candy and small, round gingerbread like cookies (Pepernoten) into the crowd. The children welcome him by singing traditional Sinterklaas songs. Sinterklaas also visits schools, hospitals and shopping malls. His arrival is reported on nationwide TV.
Traditionally, in the weeks before the 5th of December, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to chimney of the coal fired stove, with a carrot or some hay in it 'for Sinterklaas' horse', and will find some candy in the form of a chocolate, marzipan frog in their shoes the next day, supposedly thrown down the chimney by a Zwarte Piet or Sinterklaas himself.
However, with the advance of central heating children will put their shoes near the boiler or even just next to the front door....
Children are told that Black Peter enters the house through the chimney, which also explained his black face and hands, and would leave a bundle of sticks or a small bag with salt in the shoe instead of candy when the child had been bad.
(in recent years some people have engaged in a recurring dialogue/debate about theoretical racial, sexist or other discriminative aspects of the black Peter character.)
Children are also told that in the worst case they would be put in the gunny bag that black Peter carries the presents in, and would be taken back to Madrid in Spain, where Sinterklaas spends the rest of the year.
At the evening or late afternoon of December 5, children at home sing Sinterklaas songs and suddenly the doorbell will ring, and when they go to the door a gunny sack full of presents is found on the doorstep. Alternatively - some improvisation is often called for - the parents 'hear a sound coming from the attic' and then the bag with presents is 'found' there.
Typical presents include the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate, a figurine of Sinterklaas made out of chocolate and wrapped in painted aluminum foil, colored marzipan shaped into fruit, an animal or some other object. These presents are often accompanied by a simple poem, saying something about the child or with a hint to the nature of the present. Also popular are coins and cigarettes made out of chocolate. However, the European Parliament has issued a recommendation to ban chocolate cigarettes since they might promote future real smoking.
The children, up to an age of usually seven or eight years, almost religiously believe in Sinterklaas. They think that he actually lives forever and that he comes from Spain, that he knows everything about the children and that his zwarte Pieten do come down through chimneys. The period between his arrival and December 5 is therefore very exciting.
When children ask their parents how it is possible that Sinterklaas is at so many places, they tell them that those are assistant Sinterklaasen. At family gatherings where a stand in Sinterklaas in a rented suit appears, parents have reported in advance to this Sinterklaas what the children have done good and bad and make it look like he knows everything about the children when the 'Goedheiligman' looks in his big book.
For some children, gradually losing their magic view of the world as they grow older and getting more and more suspicious about what their parents are telling them, it still may be their first big traumatic experience in life when their parents admit that Sinterklaas does not really exist....
Therefore some parents tell their children from the start that all this Sinterklaas is just a fantasy, a game that people play, as they consider it an inappropriately bad example about telling the truth. Others consider that the enjoyment for the children get is greater than a small(?) discomfort.
Originally Sinterklaas or Sint-Nikolaas was only celebrated in Flanders and the Netherlands the way described above, but now he is celebrated in Wallonia in the same way. The celebrating of Saint-Nicholas is mostly the same as in the Netherlands but there are some small differences.
Note that Saint Nicholaas is celebrated in Belgium for centuries -there is even a city called St. Niklaas but, like every folkloristic thing in Belgium, their might be small differences, and generally in the east part of the Provincie East-Flanders Saint Nicholaas is not celebrated but children receive precents from Sint Maarten (Saint Martin).
Since the 1880s in Eastern European Slavic countries a similar character known as Ded Moroz or "Grandfather Frost" travels around on a magic sled with his young, blond assistant Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden, said to be his granddaughter) giving gifts to good children. Ded Moroz and Snegurochka travel in a troika — a decorated sleigh drawn by three horses. He only delivers presents to children while they are asleep and unlike Santa he does not travel down chimneys but comes to the front door of the children's homes. It is traditional for the children to leave him some food for Ded Moroz.
This Ded Moroz is not identified nor in any way associated with St. Nicholas, who is very widely revered in Eastern Europe as a saint and Bishop. In all likelihood, Ded Moroz is actually a Slavic interpretation of the American Santa Clause or some similar figure, any connection to the original saint long since disappeared.
Main article: Santa Claus