What Is St. Nicholas Day? What Makes German and Dutch Holidays Different from Christmas?

Christmas is less than 20 days away, but for some Americans, the holiday season begins sooner.

For the German and Dutch communities in the United States, St. Nicholas Day is very meaningful, even though it is not observed nationally. Many cities, including Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, host celebrations and customs.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the holiday’s named saint is the subject of bonfire rituals in the little east Wisconsin city of New Ulm. According to tradition, the sticks that St. Nicholas brought for the mischievous kids—but later realized he didn’t need them—are used to construct the bonfire.

Who was St. Nicholas?

Saint Nicholas of Myra, or Saint Nicholas, was a bishop of the Roman Empire who became the patron saint of children because of his kindness towards young children. He was widely known for giving gifts and helping the poor, even if it meant selling his possessions.

St. Nicholas slipped some children’s golden money into stockings that were hung up to dry. This resulted in the establishment of the enduring tradition of youngsters leaving a plate out or hanging stockings on St. Nicholas Eve.

The church declared St. Nicholas a saint on December 6, the day he is thought to have passed away in 343 A.D. People celebrate the day as a feast day.

During the medieval period, especially in Germany and other German-speaking nations, the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6th gained popularity.

When is St. Nicholas Day?

This year’s St. Nick’s Day occurs on a Friday, December 6.

What is St. Nicholas Day, and how is it celebrated?

The fourth-century bishop of Myra, St. Nicholas, is honored on St. Nicholas Day. On feast days, children are frequently given toys, cookies, and sweets in their shoes and stockings or under their pillows, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Candy canes, oranges, and chocolate coins are typical St. Nick’s Day offerings.

Children also frequently leave letters for St. Nicholas and grass or carrots for his horse or donkey.

When did St. Nick’s Day arrive in the United States?

Beginning in the 1600s, German immigration to the United States brought St. Nick’s Day with them.

Don Heinrich Tolzmann informed The Cincinnati Enquirer, a division of the USA TODAY network, in 2021 that the first Christmas tree was erected in Cincinnati in the early 19th century by German immigrant and physician Dr. Ludwig “Louis” Rehfuss.

Tolzmann is the president of the German American Citizens’ League and curator of the German Heritage Museum.

Around the same time, Cincinnati saw the start of St. Nick’s Day.

“That custom, because of the German heritage of our area, is widely celebrated here even to this day,” said Tolzmann.

What’s the difference between St. Nicholas and Santa Claus?

Depending on the children’s behavior that year, St. Nicholas fills the stockings that are placed out for them on St. Nick’s Eve.

Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or St. Nick, fills stockings and bestows gifts on kids on Christmas Eve based on their conduct.

Smithsonian Magazine claims that the first image of Santa Claus was created in 1863 by a Bavarian immigrant named Thomas Nast, who was a cartoonist during the Civil War. The picture of Santa distributing gifts at a Union Army camp was produced as Union propaganda during the war and initially shown in Harper’s Weekly. Santa is shown in the picture wearing striped slacks and a jacket with stars on it.