St. Nikolaus

Hey Everyone!!!

I apologize for not writing anything for the past few weeks. I have decided to move to Germany to start a freelance writing business and I've had a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, I've put this blog on the back burner, but I'm back now!

Today's blog post is about a December holiday celebrated in Germany. In case you don't know, I have both German and US citizenship. I grew up in the US, but I am also German. As a result, I've been lucky enough to experience two cultures and their traditions. One German holiday tradition that I never really celebrated though was St. Nikolaus day.

December 6 is St. Nikolaus Tag in Germany. I didn't know about this tradition and had a nice surprise this morning when I found a present outside my door. (Check out my Instagram, @eurofrau , to see what I got!) I was completely confused and thought a relative decided to give me a random gift. When I asked my grandparent about it, they smiled and told me I got a visit from St. Nikolaus. I was excited. Any day I get presents is a great one!!!

St. Nikolaus

I then asked my grandparent what St. Nikolaus day was. They said that on December 6th, St. Nikolaus visits the children who have been good and gives them a gift. Traditionally, children would leave their boots outside their doors for St. Nikolaus to put fruit and nuts in.


There are two characters associated with St. Nikolaus Tag. St. Nikolaus gives gifts to the good children and the Krampus (a devil-like beast) comes by and takes away the bad children. Those are the characters in Bavaria and Austria. St. Nikolaus Tag also involves controversy and racism. In places like the Netherlands, St. Nikolaus was accompanied by a black slave who played the role of Krampus. It's still tradition for people to put on black-face to play the slave role. There have been attempts to change this, but they're not having much effect.

Krampus

St. Nikolaus is a Catholic Saint, and December 6th celebrates Nikolaus's good deeds as a Catholic. St. Nikolaus was a bishop who inherited great wealth and gave that wealth to the poor. He also gave fruit and nuts to the poor every Christmas. He died on December 6 and that is the day we celebrate as St. Nikolaus day in Germany.

Have you ever celebrated St. Nikolaus day? Tell me about your experience in the comment section below!

Happy St. Nikolaus Tag!