CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD: SINTERKLAAS—A DUTCH TRADITION

By Debbie Bulloch



Sinterklaas is a traditional winter holiday figure in the Netherlands and Belgium. In Holland, he is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' Eve (December 5). In Belgium, he is celebrated on the morning of December 6.

Originally, the Sinterklaas feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas. Sinterklaas is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in Canada and the United States.

Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. Saint Nicholas’ fame spread throughout Europe until eventually the Catholic Church made his name day a Church holiday. It is not exactly known how this kindly 4th century bishop made his way from Asia Minor through Italy, Spain and eventually to all of Northern Europe. Today St. Nicholas is honored as the patron saint not only of children and unwed maidens, but of sailors and the City of Amsterdam as well.

In the north of France, Saint Nicolas became the patron saint of school children. In early traditions, students elected one of their fellow students as "bishop.” He would then rule from St. Nicholas Day until December 28 (Innocents Day). The students sometimes acted out events from the bishop's life. As the festival moved to city streets, it became more lively.



Sinterklaas, however, is mainly associated with the city of Amsterdam. Association with Amsterdam goes back to the time of the Inquisition, which had spread to Holland in the Middle Ages. Rumor had it that there was a Nicholas who was Bishop of the Cathedral in Amsterdam. When the swarthy Spaniards came from Spain to trade with the Dutch, they gave passage to adults and children alike whose lives were threatened by the Inquisition against the Jews in Spain.

Traditionally, Sinterklaas is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colorful Moorish dresses. These helpers are called 'Zwarte Pieten' (Black Petes). During the Middle-ages Zwarte Piet was a name for the devil. Having triumphed over evil, it was said that on Saint Nicholas eve the devil was shackled and made his slave. Although the character of Black Pete later came to acquire racial connotations, his origins were in the devil figure.



The Sinterklaas feast was both an occasion to help the poor, by putting money in their shoes (which evolved into putting presents in children's shoes) and a wild feast, similar to Carnival, that often led to costumes, a "topsy-turvy" overturning of daily roles, and mass public revelries.

After the Protestant Reformation, England and Germany prohibited celebration of the saint. When the Netherlands became a largely Protestant country, following the Reformation, the government abolished most public celebrations. The Dutch people, including students in Amsterdam, protested. The government eventually relented and it allowed Sinterklaas celebrations within the family.

By the nineteenth century, the saint came out of “hiding” and became more secularized. The modern tradition of Sinterklaas as a children's feast was likely confirmed with the illustrated children's book Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht (Saint Nicholas and His Servant), written in 1850 by the teacher Jan Schenkman (1806–1863). Some say he introduced the images of Sinterklaas' delivering presents by the chimney, riding over the roofs of houses on a gray horse, and arriving from Spain by steamboat.

In Schenkman's version, the medieval figures of the mock devil, which later changed to Oriental or Moorish helpers, was portrayed for the first time as black African and called Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). He is a black boy who accompanies Sinterklaas and helps him on his rounds (possibly derived from the Dutch colonial experience, or the Moorish occupation of Spain).

During the difficult times of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War 2, Sinterklaas came to cheer everyone, not just children. Many of the traditional Sinterklaas rhymes written during the Nazi occupation referred to current events. For example, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was often celebrated. In 1941 the RAF dropped boxes of candy over the occupied Netherlands. A contemporary poem was the following:

R.A.F. Kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Bij de Moffen gooien,
Maar in Holland strooien!

(Sorry, but I could not find an English translation of this poem, and my Dutch is not very good).

Many of the Sinterklaas poems of this time noted the lack of food and basic necessities due to the Nazi occupation; others expressed admiration for the Dutch Resistance.

The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on December 5th, St. Nicholas Eve, with festive family parties when gifts and surprises are exchanged. In the Netherlands, unlike other places, adults as well as children join in the fun. As the Dutch like an element of surprise, a small gift may be wrapped in a huge box, or it may be hidden and require following clues to discover where it is.



Gifts are prettily wrapped in special Sinterklaas paper or they may be hidden in a potato or an old sock. Each gift is anonymously signed "from Sinterklaas." The gift comes with a clever rhyme that may point out a person's shortcomings in a humorous way. (For the less creative, there are books with suggestions for making rhymes and packaging disguises.) Originality, not value of the gift, is what counts.

Children sing traditional Sinterklaas songs while waiting for the saint to appear. A knock comes on the door and a black gloved hand appears to toss candies and inside. Children scramble to gather up the treats. A large burlap bag, "de zak van Sinterklaas," also appears filled with gifts. At the table, decorated with speculaas and other sweets, guests may find their initial in a chocolate letter at their places. Food is apt to include hot chocolate, Bishop's wine, and letter .

The Dutch feast of Saint Nicholas is about giving, for "it is in giving that we receive." The fun is in trying to surprise people, to tease in a well-meaning way, to make a good joke, to produce a rollicking rhyme. The gift itself is just a bonus, as the fun is in the doing.

A 2008 survey by the Center for Dutch Culture found that Sinterklaas is the most important tradition for the Dutch. The second ranked tradition is decorating a Christmas tree, followed by Queen's Day, April 30. Blowing out birthday candles and eating raw herring were also in the top ten. I am not sure that eating raw herring is a Dutch tradition that I want to see move over to America.)

As an interesting footnote to the Sinterklaas tradition, studies with young children (ages 4-7) in the Netherlands show that St. Nicholas encourages positive, sharing behavior: "One may think that traditions like the Dutch Saint Nicholas tradition makes children materialistic, greedy, and less likely to share with others as they are spoiled with gifts and candy. These studies, however, clearly show that children in the Netherlands associate Saint Nicholas with "sharing with others.”

When the early Dutch settlers came to America, they naturally brought with them their venerated old bishop. St. Nicholas and their favorite holiday, Sinterklaas. Indeed, after landing in the New World, the Dutch explorers, led by Henry Hudson, built their first church on the island of Manhattan in 1642, dedicating it to Sinterklaas. When the British took control of New Amsterdam in 1664, they adopted the Dutch recognition of Sinterklaas and merged it with their own observance of the Winter Solstice, Father Christmas—the merry, roly-poly, Falstaffian figure in high boots. Eventually, these two old gentlemen commemorated in December, merged into one.



Over the next few generations, Sinterklaas found his way into American literature. In 1809, writer Washington Irving created a jolly Sinterklaas for his popular Knickerbockers Tales. In 1822, an Episcopal priest named Clement Moore wrote a lighthearted poem called "A Visit from St. Nicholas" which featured a jolly old elf, his descent down a chimney on Christmas Eve, and a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer (Odin's flying horse!) The Father Christmas image stuck, but he acquired a Dutch name—Santa Claus—a direct derivation from Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas is a wonderful tradition that has survived through the centuries. The story of the kindly 4th century bishop connects us to our shared past, moving us to the present and on to the future.

Next: Las Posadas—Mexico’s wonderful Christmas tradition.