St. Nick is the forerunner of Father Christmas and Santa Claus.
He was a Greek Bishop of Myra in what is now modern day Turkey. Associated with his generosity to children, he is the archetypal gift-bringer of Old Europe.
Missus Moonbase comes from the Continent and along with millions of European children celebrated St. Nikolaus as a kid on the Sixties and as they still do now. In many ways it is an early Christmas Day.
My Wife recalls leaving her shoes outside the house door. These would be filled with sweets.
Inside the candle-lit kitchen would be a Bunte Teller or colouful platter of sweets, nuts and fruit like this:
The whole family would dress for the winter cold and join many others to witness the St. Nikolaus procession proceeding through the town centre. St. Nick was escorted by 'bad monk' Knect Ruprect and others handing out sweets to the enchanted kids.
Largely if not completely absent from Great Britain, if you are celebrating St. Nikolaus's day then I hope your shoes were stuffed with goodies and your candles burn bright.
Let us know if you are!
Happy St Nikolaus day Woodsy, Bill, & Scoop! This past week Bettina has been reminiscing about Dec 6 and Nikolaustag. We generally don't observe Dec 6 here Stateside (I never knew about it until being stationed in Germany).but we do start seeing Santa Claus popping up around town at Christmas tree lighting ceremonies and such.
ReplyDelete"Ja, und ich bin der Weihnachtsmann!"
Ah, du bist der Weihnachtsmann Ed! I always wondered! ha ha
ReplyDelete