Today is St. Nicholas's Day or as my Missus calls it, Nikolaus. It is in effect the root of our modern Christmas, since St. Nicholas the gift-bringer eventually morphed into Sinterklass, then Santa Claus and in Britain, Father Christmas.
On Nikolaus my Missus would leave shoes outside her flat on the landing as a kid, which would be secretly filled with delicious sweets and a plate of confections would appear too, the Bunte Teller or colourful plate.
The good Saint Nicholaus did have his antonyms though, in the form of the very nasty Knecht Ruprecht and the increasingly-celebritised monster, Krampus, the evil child snatcher. All three roam the streets on the 6th December. Just make sure you meet the nice guy and not the other two!
St. Nicholas's Day isn't celebrated in England these days, which is our loss really, as its a fine precursor of the kind season to come.
Do you celebrate Nikolaus readers?
When I was in Austria around this time, a few years back, we were woken early morning by cowbells and crashing noises from the ‘Devil Run’ where locals chase the evil spirits out of the village witj noise and commotion. Unfortunately i didnt see the procession, but it sounded amazing. I love the holdover of old traditions like this, long may they reign!
ReplyDeleteYes, we seem to have lost many a festive tradition here in England, certainly here in West Yorkshire. One of mine is to read Christina Hole's old book of Christmas Traditions to remind me what we once had at this time.
DeleteMy wife tried to keep Niklaus Tag a going thing but this year has been stressful and we all just let it pass. She made only a passing reference to it once and that-wa-that!
ReplyDeleteI do hope 2021 is less stressful for you and Bettina Ed. Its not good for either of you!
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