December 6th -- Sankt Nikolaus Day

December 6th

K and S put their shoes out last night in anticipation of Sankt Nikolaus Day.  So who is this man?  I guess it depends.  My neighbor, Katrin who is from Austria explained that St. Nikolaus brings an orange, nuts (peanuts and walnuts in the shell), a small toy and candy for all of the children who have been good.  She added that if the children have misbehaved Krampus (a scary looking man), Santa's helper visits the children and hits them with a switch or takes them away in his bag (if they are particularly bad).  After doing a little research,  I found that Krampus, also known as Knecht Ruprecht, is a Austrian/Bavarian tradition. (http://lafenty.hubpages.com/hub/KrampusandKnechtRuprecht)

http://anachronisticdecay.blogspot.de/2010/12/mery-krampus.html

I read in a blog that in Austria and southern Bavaria it is a tradition for young men to dress up as Krampus and go through the streets the evening of December 5th frightening chilren with rusty chains and bells.  http://anachronisticdecay.blogspot.de/2010/12/mery-krampus.html.  I was skeptical of the information so I asked Katrin.  She told me that the information was in fact accurate.

Here is a poem that I found online at the webpage for the St. Nicholas Center.  It does a great job explaining the story of St. Nick. (http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/celebrate-at-school/)

Origin of Species

by Phyllis McGinley

Detail from vintage advertising blotter Koospol, Prague, Czechoslovakia St Nicholas Center Collection

Nicholas, Bishop of Myra's See,
Was holy a saint
As a saint could be;
Saved not a bit
Of his worldly wealth
And loved to commit
Good deeds by stealth.

Was there a poor man,
Wanting a roof?
Nicholas sheltered him weatherproof.
Who lacked a morsel
Had but to ask it
And at his doorsill
Was Nicholas' basket.

0, many a basket did he carry.

Penniless girls
Whom none would marry
Used to discover to their delight,
Into their windows
Tossed at night
(When the moon was old
And the dark was showry),
Bags of gold
Enough for a dowry.

People, I read,
Grew slightly lyrical,
Calling each deed
He did, a miracle.
Told how he calmed the sea for sailors
And rescued children
From awful jailors
Who, drawing lots
For the foul design,
Liked pickling tots
In pickle brine.

Nicholas, circa
Fourth cent. A.D.,
Died in the odor of sanctity.
But fortune changes,
Blessings pass,
And look what's happened to Nicholas.

He who had feared
The world's applause,
Now, with a beard,
Is Santa Claus.
A multiplied elf, he struts and poses,
Ringing up sales
In putty noses;
With Comet and Cupid
His constant partners,
Telling tall tales to kindergart'ners,
His halo fickle as
Wind and wave.

While dizzily Nicholas
Spins in his grave.

Source cited at the bottom of the page

I guess K and S must have been good girls because St. Nikolaus, not Krampus, visited them.  In addition to a clementine, nuts and candy, S got a travel coffee mug and K got a Hobbit puzzle.  So what do you think of the shoes that S placed outside of her door?

Source:  "Origin of Species", from TIMES THREE: Selected Verse from Three Decades with Seventy New Poems by Phyllis McGinley, copyright 1932–1960 by Phyllis McGinley; Copyright 1938–42, 1944, 1945, 1958, 1959 by The Curtis Publishing Co. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. For on-line information about other Penguin Group (USA) books and authors, see www.penguin.com.