A Christmas Tradition for Each Culture

Growing up with the last name Tortorelli from my full-blooded, second-generation Italian father, everyone immediately recognized my Italian heritage. Yet my mother, also second generation, is of full-blooded German ancestry. Since Heinz grew up in and is a citizen of Switzerland, everyone immediately recognizes his Swiss side. However, the reality is that his father, born and raised in Germany, moved to Switzerland in his early 20's. In those days, ancestry was still only traced through the father, so the boys were automatically German citizens, even though they were born in Switzerland. Heinz remembers when he, his Dad and his brother all petitioned for and received their Swiss citizenship. Also in those days dual citizenship was not recognized so they all had to forfeit their German citizenship. 

To recap, I am half Italian, half German. Heinz is half Swiss, half German. Doing the math (come on, fractions aren't that hard!) that makes our children more German than anything else, and German on both sides of their lineage. Personally, I am really enjoying the opportunity to get more in touch with our shared German ancestry through the kids' German education. Learning about the holiday traditions is my favorite part and my favorite holiday of all is Christmas! This year we can celebrate so many aspects of the holiday as we explore the layers of our family's heritage. With Christmas of course comes Santa Claus, and all his cultural and religious variations, based on which history you choose to adopt.

An over-simplification taken from Google:

Saint Nicholas, also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos".

Saint Nicholas day in the German Speaking countries:

In Northern Germany, Sankt Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot) outside the front door on the night of 5 December. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets overnight, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (Rute) in their boots instead. {This branch was meant as a switch, to beat you with if you have been bad. My friend Miia, who grew up in Germany says she remembers this happening to her sister (the branch but not the beating). She says she is still disturbed by her parents decision to do that!} Sometimes a Nikolaus impersonator also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they have been good (sometimes ostensibly checking his golden book for their record), handing out presents on the basis of their behavior. This has become more lenient in recent decades, and this task is often taken over by the Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas). In more catholic regions, Nikolaus is dressed very much like a bishop and rides on a horse, welcomed at public places by a large crowd. Typical in Germany for Saint Nicholas Day is the Stutenkerl, a pastry made of sweet leavened dough.

In Swiss folklore, the Christmas gift-bringer is known as Samichlaus (like Dutch Sinterklaas a corruption of the name of St. Nicholas). The Swiss version of the scary companion of St. Nicholas corresponding to the Austrian Krampus and the German Knecht Ruprecht is known as Schmutzli. 

The companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany St. Nicholas in German-speaking Europe and more widely throughout the territories formerly in the Holy Roman Empire. These characters act as a foil to the benevolent Christmas gift-bringer, threatening to thrash or abduct disobedient children. Jacob Grimm (Deutsche Mythologie) associated this character with the pre-Christian house spirit (kobold, elf) which could be benevolent or malicious, but whose mischiveous side was emphasized after Christianization. The association of the Christmas gift-bringer with elves has parallels in English and Scandinavian folklore, and is ultimately and remotely connected to the modern Christmas elf in American folklore.

Heinz remembers remembers being told as a child that the Schmutzli would shove those who did not behave into their brown burlap sack. According to his Mom, when she was young one particularly badly behaved neighbor boy was actually stuffed into a sack in an effort to scare him into behaving! No word on whether it worked! (or whether it simply scarred him for life...)

The Swiss Club of Shanghai has a lovely Christmas party every year. We attended last year and were really looking forward to going again this year, the weekend before St. Nicholas Day. Samichlaus and his Schmutzli arrived on time and all the children were invited to gather round while he checked their names in his book. 

 As we walked with Conrad and Vivi into the adjacent room set up for the kids to meet with him, Conrad saw the ominously dressed Schmutzli in his hooded brown tunic and tugged on my sleeve. He whispered in my ear “Mom! I don’t want to get shoved in the sack!!”

Samichlaus opened his book and had two comments to make to each of the children: admonishing them for one weakness and then congratulating them on one thing they are doing well. Amazingly the Samichlaus who visits the Swiss Club of Shanghai every year speaks German and Swiss German, French, English and Chinese, seamlessly! This year he spoke to Conrad and Vivienne in German. Then they were brave enough to take their gifts from the Schmutzli.

 “Daddy, we didn’t get shoved in the sack!”

This year, Saint Nicholas Day is on a Thursday. Wednesday we attended our regular weekly German playgroup and reviewed what typically happens and how most Germans celebrate. We were well prepared to participate in our own home. The kids each put a boot out before going to bed Wednesday evening, their own Nikolaus-Stiefel for St. Nick to fill. What fun to check them the next morning and see what he brought!

It was quite cold but they got some neat things! We spoke to Grammy later that day and she told the kids that she always got an orange in her shoe for St. Nicholas' Day, too! I expect she told my sisters and I that at some point but I had forgotten it. Fun to relearn so much about my Mom's childhood as well.  

So far the kids have not asked me why they get to see Santa Claus so often. I'm not quite sure how I'll respond if they do! We've tossed around the idea that he visits Germany on the 6th and America on the 25th because the world really is just too big for him to get to everyone in one night. But apparently he has enough time on his hands to visit China on both nights! Not sure yet how to explain that one away. Fingers crossed that they don't notice that detail!

I'm really not sure who is having more fun this year, me or the kids! Did you celebrate St. Nikolaus Day this year?
Did he bring you an orange or a root?

Hope you are all enjoying what the season has to offer~