Sinterklaas (also called Sint-Nicolaas or De Goedheiligman in Dutch [ ]) and Saint Nicolas in French) is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve (December 5) or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6.The feast celebrates the name dayof Saint Nicholas, patron saint of, among other things, children.

It is also celebrated in parts of France (North, Alsace, Lorraine), as well as in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and in the towns of Belluno, Trieste and in Eastern Friuli in Italy.Additionally, many Roman Catholics of Alsatian and Lotharingian descent in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, celebrate "Saint Nicholas Day" on the morning of December 6.The traditions differ from country to country, even between Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve (December 5) is the chief occasion for gift-giving. The evening is called "sinterklaasavond" or "pakjesavond" ("presents evening"). In the Netherlands, children receive their presents on this evening whereas in Belgium, children put their shoe in front of the fireplace on the evening of December 5, then go to bed, and find the presents around the shoes on the morning of the 6th.

Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It is often claimed that during the American War of Independence the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam) which had been swapped by the Dutch for other territories, reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past.The name Santa Claus supposedly derived from older Dutch Sinte Klaas. However, the Saint Nicholas Societywas not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the American War of Independence. A study of the "children's books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam by Charles Jones revealed no references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas. However, not all scholars agree with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a booklength study in 1978; Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York existed in the early settlement of the Hudson Valley, although he agrees that "there can be no question that by the time the revival of St. Nicholas came with Washington Irving, the traditional New Netherlands observance had completely disappeared." The Saint Nicholas Society of New York still has a feast on December 6 to this day.

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas has a long red cape, wears a white bishop's dress and red mitre(bishop's hat), and holds a crosier, a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top. He carries a big book that tells whether each individual child has been good or naughty in the past year. He traditionally rides a white horse.

Zwarte Piet

Zwarte Piet("Black Pete"), Sinterklaas' helping hand, has his origin in the bishop's legendary past. Three small Moorish boys were sentenced to death for a crime they did not commit. The bishop intervened and they were saved. To show their gratitude, the boys stayed with Sinterklaas to help him, tumbling and jumping on rooftops on Sinterklaas night to deliver presents. Their black skin may refer either to their Moorish background, or to the job of chimneysweep, an option corroborated by their clothes, reminiscent of an Italian chimneysweep's costume and Pete's rooftop occupation. Another background story for Pete is that he is the devil who was enslaved by Sinterklaas. Nowadays, children in the Netherlands are told that the Pietenwork for Sinterklaas voluntarily and that there is a special school in Spain where they learn their trade.

Sinterklaas originally had only one Zwarte Piet. The concept of multiple Pieten was introduced by the Canadians when they helped organise the first post-WWII Sinterklaas celebration. Most traditional Sinterklaas songs still mention only one Zwarte Piet.

Sinterklaas and his Black Petes usually carry a bag, which contains candy for nice children and a roe,a bunch of willow branches used to spank naughty children; in actuality a chimneysweep's broom. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain. The Zwarte Pieten toss candy around, a tradition supposedly originating in Sint Nicolaas' story of saving three young girls from prostitution by tossing golden coins through their window at night to pay their father's debts.

Arrival

Sinterklaas traditionally arrives each year in mid-November (usually on a Saturday) by steamboat from Spain (even though the bishop was originally from Asia Minor).Some suggest that gifts associated with the holy man such as Mandarin orangesled to the misconception that he must have been from Spain. He is then paraded through the streets, welcomed by cheering and singing children. This event is broadcasted live on national television in the Netherlands and Belgium. His Zwarte Pietassistants throw candy and small, round, ginger bread-like cookies, either "kruidnoten" or "pepernoten," into the crowd. The children welcome him by singing traditional Sinterklaas songs. Sinterklaas also visits schools, hospitals and shopping centers. After this arrival all towns with a dock have their own "intocht van Sinterklaas" (arrival of Sinterklaas). Local arrivals usually take place on Sunday, the day after he arrives in the Netherlands or Belgium. In places a boat cannot reach, Sinterklaas arrives by train, bus, horse, or even carriage.

Presents

Traditionally, in the weeks between his arrival and December 5, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney of the coal fired stove or fireplace, or, in modern times, next to the central heating or at the front door. The shoe is to have a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water "for Sinterklaas' horse," and the children sing a Sinterklaas song; the next day they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes. When a house has no chimney, Sinterklaas or Black Pete is said to enter using his special key that fits on every door in the Netherlands.

Typical Sinterklaas candy traditionally includes: mandarin oranges, pepernoten, letter-shaped pastryfilled with almond pasteor chocolate letter(the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate), speculaas(sometimes filled with almond paste), chocolate coinsand marzipanfigures. Newer candy includes kruidnoten (a type of shortcrustbiscuitor gingerbread-biscuits) and a figurine of Sinterklaas made out of chocolate and wrapped in painted aluminum foil.

Children are told that Black Pete enters the house through the chimney, which also explains his black face and hands, and will leave a bundle of sticks ("roe") or a small bag of salt in the shoe instead of candy if the child has been bad. If they have been really bad, Black Pete may take them back to Spain in his sack, a tradition now frowned upon under the influence of modern child psychology.

Traditionally Saint Nicholas brings his gifts at night, and many Belgian and Dutch children still find their presents on the morning of December 6. Later in The Netherlands adults started to give each other presents on the evening of the 5th; then older children were included, and today many young children also get their presents on Saint Nicholas' eve.

Poems can still accompany bigger gifts as well, though instead of being brought by Sinterklaas, people will draw names for an event comparable to Secret Santa. Gifts are to be creatively disguised (for which the Dutch use the French word "surprise"), and are usually accompanied by a humorous poem which often teases the recipient for well-known bad habits or other character deficiencies.

Notes

1. Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Santa Claus
2. .
3. Charles W. Jones, Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1978).
4. .
5. .

See also

• Comparison of Sinterklaas and Santa Claus
• Culture of Belgium
• Culture of the Netherlands
• Saint Nicholas
• Santa Claus

Sinterklaas