SAINT SANTA CLAUS

Why St. Nicholas puts candy in boots and steals our hearts

Picture rom Deutsche Welle

Before I left on a trip to visit the Christmas markets of Bavaria and Austria in mid-December, I had hoped to have time to finish a Christmas holiday blog post.  Lacking packing organization, I got behind and had to put my good intentions aside.  Therefore, this post is appearing after December 6, the feast of St. Nicholas, and is even late for Christmas.  But the article in the blog I found for Germany's  Deutsche Welle broadcasting is so much fun and so full of information that it should be spotlighted, even if read in January.  There is always next year to be sure of a gift on St. Nicholas Eve and an understanding of how the saint became a kind of Santa Claus.

When I came across the above mentioned Deutsche Welle blog post, I was looking for information on what I should do to make sure St. Nicholas brought me something this year.  Because of our mixture of cultures in the United States, we have no hard-and-fast rules for St. Nicholas Eve. My ancestry is German, and I found the answer I wanted about the Germanic customs - although too late.

I also learned what kind of receptical (shoe, boot, etc.) the generous saint fills in other European countries. The title of the wonderful DW article is above their blog's picture ("Why St. Nicholas puts candy in boots and steals our hearts").  The explanation is so well written that I suggest you use this URL, http://www.dw.com/en/why-st-nicholas-puts-candy-in-boots-and-stole-our-hearts/a-18889948 to read a smile-producing account of the Saint who has been awaited by children for centuries.

I wonder if St. Nicholas will forgive my blog tardiness and give me another chance to share in his generosity next year?  What do you think?

Nikolaus, Knecht Ruprecht, and the "Cheeky" Girl

In past posts, I've written about Saint Nikolaus Eve, both in the early centuries and in more recent times. But I can't resist one more St. Nikolaus story, this one from perhaps 50 or so years ago. You've probably heard of the film "The Nightmare before Christmas." This one could be called "The Nightmare before St. Nikolaus Day". A woman who lived in Irsch as a child and experienced a fearsome Nikolaus visit tells her story like this:

The Nikolaus Eve at our Home

For my siblings and me, the observance of Nikolaus Eve was full of stress because Nikolaus brought his assistant, the servant Ruprecht (Knecht-Ruprecht in German*). And he left behind a very fearful impression on me.

Now the evening was here and the banging and chain rattling on the wooden steps outside our door were so great that it was frightening and we were afraid. The kitchen door was flung open with great force and Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht came inside.

Knecht Ruprect's red tongue showed all the while because he let it hang out of his mouth. On his back he lugged a sack that was so big that a child would fit inside. Two long, stuffed stockings with shoes sewed to them were stuck to the outside of the bag, a sight that scared me stiff because I thought I would be stuck to the bag in the same way. I started to bawl.

Nikolaus took his big book and quickly leafed through it as if he already knew what the devil had written in it. He looked at me and then said that I had been rude to my Aunt Lena. And he had observed that, in the street, I was a cheeky child. He was going to take me with him, just as I had feared. But before he took me away, I should pray the "Our Father."

As I finished the Our Father, Knecht Ruprecht tugged at me. But I held on to the cutlery drawer. I pulled on it with force and it swung out of the cupboard with a dreadful clanging.

My grandma came down the stairs and helped me out of my jam. In that moment, I loved my grandma more than ever.

As a punishment, Nikolaus gave me a stick and he and Ruprecht started away. But my grandma wasn't finished with them; she snatched a gift from Nikolaus. Face beaming, she brought it to me

Thus ends the story submitted by Hedwig Rice to the monthly Irsch internet newsletter - sent free to subscribers with an interest in reading it.

My family, descended from ancestors who once lived in Irsch, also celebrated St. Nicholas Eve. After reading Frau Rice's story, I'm grateful that St. Nicholas came alone to our Wisconsin farm home and the only sound we heard was of his sleighbells. Never did our cutlery drawer suffer from a visit from St. Nicholas!

*For more on the history of Sankt Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht, use the search box at the top of the page.

Christmas in the Hunsrück

A popular version of the Christkind












Oberzerf, the home village of my Rauls ancestors was at the edge of the Hunsrück region in what was then Kreis Saarburg. Since my great-great grandmother, Magdalena Rauls, was born on December 25, I have a special interest in the Christmas customs of her village in 1827. The closest I have come so far is the small book called, "Die Hunsrücker Küche," (Hunsrück cooking) by Christiane Becker. Along with recipes for traditional Christmas treats, there is a description of some of the Christmas customs of the Hunsrück of the last century.



A figure of St. Nicholas from the 13th century













But first, a little history. The eve of the feast of St. Nicholas on Dec 6 was originally the time when children in German-speaking regions received gifts. Saint Nicholas was clothed in a bishop's red robe, somewhat like today's Santa Claus or Weihnachtsman. On his head was a miter, and he carried the staff of a bishop of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther urged his followers to stop this custom which had such strong Catholic church connections. The Christ child, he preached, gave the greatest gift to mankind, and children should receive presents from him on the day that commemorates his birth. The change began in the northern regions where the majority of the population was Lutheran, but by the nineteenth century, even in the Catholic regions, the Christkind brought gifts on Christmas eve. However St. Nicholas retained his popularity in the Catholic areas, continuing to bring presents on St. Nicholas eve. (There is more information on the celebration and customs of St. Nicholas eve in my archived post from January 2006).

Literally translated, the word "Christkind" means Christ child. However, in the 19th century, the Christkind was not represented by a babe in a manger but rather by an angelic figure with golden wings and long blond hair. In some parts of Germany, especially Bavaria, teenage girls clothed in white dresses and wearing golden wings played the Christkind, but customs varied. Christiane Becker, author of "Die Hunsrücker Küche," describes the Christkind custom in the small village of Götzeroth in the Idarwald as follows: On Christmas eve, the Christkind, face covered with a veil, went from house to house, accompanied by the "Stabbegloose", two figures in black clothes and hats. Both carried a staff and hid their black painted faces behind a beard of flax. The raccous sounds of staffs and bells were eagerly awaited by the children because the trio were bringing gifts. The Stabbegloose would push their boisterous way into each house in the village, followed by the Christkind. As a reward for their turbulent visit, they were rewarded with money or, in earlier times, with Kuchen. The actual visit of the Christkind was done in fewer and fewer places as the 19th century progressed, and today such a custom is a rarity.

Baking for Christmas was done during the season of Advent. At sunset in December when the sky was a shimmering red, there was an old saying in the Hunsrück: "The Christkind is baking sugar cookies." The women and children of the family were busy making familiar Christmas recipes. The aroma from the kitchen, which had been turned into a virtual bake shop, permeated the whole house. Naturally, there was quite a bit of tasting of the Zuckerblätjer, as the cookies were called in the Hunsrück dialect. But the Zuckerblätjer soon disappeared into cans and glass jars, to await Christmas eve. There were nut cookies, Lebkuchen, spritz cookies, cinnamon wafers, and chocolate balls in the recipe box of Becker's grandmother.

Except in rare exceptions like the one mentioned above, the Christkind was not seen by the children. He brought the gifts and trimmed the Christmas tree behind a locked door in the good room of the home, aided by parents and sometimes also by grandparents and relatives. The curious children waited impatiently for the door to open, but by the time the Christmas bells were rung and the door was flung wide, the Christkind had gone.

Nikolausabend/St. Nicholas Eve

This song about the much anticipated arrival of Saint Nicholas comes from the Hunsrück area of Germany










In my post about some significant holidays in the Christmas season, I did not mention St. Nicholas Day, or «Nikolausabend», perhaps because it was so familiar to me. This was not a little known saint's day in my small, German-American town. On the evening of December 5, St. Nicholas always came. Dad would knock on the door and ring sleighbells. He didn't dress up as St. Nicholas because he knew I was too scared to go to the door when he knocked. I would quiver with a mixture of fear and excitement and pray that my mom would not open the door until the good saint had gone on his way. By the time Mom looked outside, St. Nicholas had disappeared, leaving a brown paper bag filled with candy on the doorstep.

Ernst Mettlach, who grew up in the Trier region, says that as a child, St. Nicholas eve, the "Nikolausabend" was a major event in the year. He left that comment about my "The Magi and More" post, telling me that he wished the feast of St. Nicholas had been included. Since Ernst provided me with some very good information and photos as well, and because "Nikolausabend" is such an important German holiday, I am writing about it as a separate post, rather than slipping it into my original post.





FROM ERNST: On the evening before 6th December, a man dressed as the holy bishop St. Nikolaus, sometimes accompanied by one or two angels, and the "Pelzebock", who is a fierce looking fellow dressed all in black, would go from house to house visiting the children. The "Pelzebock" - the word comes from the bible word Beelzebub (Mt 12,24, Mk 3,22, Lk 11,15), was a god of the Philistines. He is considered the highest demon or devil in the bible. (In other German regions the "Pelzebock" has names such as "Knecht Rupprecht," "Budelfrau", "Krampus", and "Pelznickel". The Pennsylvania Dutch in America called him "Belsnickel".)

The "Pelzebock" is the servant of Nikolaus, and the chains around his chest reassure the children that he is tamed. He carries a sack with presents and birch sticks inside. Usually he waits outside of the door and only comes in to hand out the presents. He has a big book in which are counted all the good and bad things the children have done throughout the year. Tradtionally, he brings a "Nikolausteller" ("Teller" is the German word for plate) or "Nikolaustuete" (a "Tuete" is a cone-shaped paper bag), filled with sweets, nuts and oranges, for each child. The children are asked to sing Nikolaus songs and recite Nikolaus poems.

SOME ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
"Der Nikolaus", as he is called in Germany, is said to have been the Bishop of Myra in Greece in about the 4th century. The historical Saint Nicholas was venerated in early Christian legends for saving storm-tossed sailors, defending young children, and giving generous gifts to the poor. Many of the stories about Saint Nicholas are of doubtful authenticity. One of the legends that grew up about him was that he helped a father and his three daughters who were too poor to have a dowry. The father was about to turn his daughters out on the street to make a living. The kindly saint, on three consecutive nights, entered their home in secret, leaving a gold ingot on the hearth so that each daughter could have a husband. In variations on the story, the saint dropped the gold down the chimney and it landed in the shoes on the hearth or in the stockings that the girls had hung near the chimney to dry. Over the centuries, these legends spread throughout Europe, emphasizing the saint's role as a traditional bringer of gifts on the eve of his feast day, Dec. 6. Martin Luther, hoping to put emphasis on the birth of Christ instead, initiated the custom of gifts brought by the "Christkind" (Christ Child) on Christmas Eve rather than the Nikolausabend gifts. But the saint, who was called Sankt Nikolaus in Germany and Sanct Herr Nicholaas or Sinter Klaas in Holland, prevailed as a gift giver, and the Nikolaus gift-giving tradition survived the Reformation. In Germany St. Nicholas is portrayed wearing a bishop's robes and the tall miter headdress. He carries a crozier, the hooked staff which symbolizes his office as a shepherd of men.