As in every December, an expat in the Netherlands is about to experience the most gezellig of all Dutch traditions: Sinterklaas. As you might have already guessed this is more or less the Dutch version of Santa Clauss (or is it the other way round? Keep on reading...). You know, this fat guy with the red robe who visits us during these days to reward all the good children with presents. I guess I shouldn't really tell this story, you already know about it.
Yet, there are a few differences in the Dutch version of the tale. Here, Sint is not bringing the presents during Christmas eve, but on the 5th of December. Somehow it is that Christmas are not the big winter celebration here but instead December 5th is.
Another exclusive Dutch feature on the story are the Zwarte (black) Piet, his devoted servants that help him distribute the presents and the candies:
These ever smiling guys, dressed always in the same old fashioned way, are very popular among the children since they are the ones to distribute candies. Dutch cities are filled with those fellows on November 13th, the day that Sint is coming by boat from Spain (!?!).
Speaking of candies, Sinterklaas celebration is accompanied here with special sweet stuff. These are:
a) Huge chocolate letters. You are supposed to give it to a beloved one, picking actually the first character of his/her name.
b) Kruidnoten. Cool tiny cinnamon cookies that are supposed to be consumed only during this time of the year.
c) Speculaas. Same taste as Kruidnoten but more fancy in design, it comes in different sizes and shapes.
*** Sinterklaas, the Dutch movie star ***
Since the Dutch people love this guy, it comes naturally that there have been a couple of local movie productions regarding his figure.
a) "Alles is Liefde" (= Everything is Love): A romantic comedy where the plot unfolds in the modern Netherlands around the days of Sinterklaas celebration. Some evil people claim that is just the Dutch version of "Love Actually".
b) "Sint": Very recent, it came out in the cinemas these days. It's horror movie (???) where Sint appears as an evil bishop that comes back from the grave to abduct children and kill the grown-ups. Did you know actually that on the 5th of December we actually celebrate the anniversary of his death rather than his brithday?
So, who is this saint?
Why does he bring presents?
What's the "real" story behind him?
To start with, his original name is Nikolaos (Νικόλαος in greek, from the words "νίκη"+"λαός" i.e. victory + people). Rather than being part of a legend, Saint Nikolaos is an actual historical figure. He was born during the 2nd century AD in Patara a city of Asia Minor, in the greek-speaking part of the Roman empire. He was an active Christian in the difficult ages of Diocletian's reign, the time when Christians were severely prosecuted. Coming from a rich family and having a strong educational background he strived to help poor people by founding hospitals and other institutions. He is known for bringing gifts because of these activities and also by another actual event: once he secretly paid for the dowries of three daughters of a pauper, who would have been sold into the slave market instead.
So how did he become Sinterklaas? Well, christian church in the first centuries of its existence worked a lot on promoting the new religion. To make it easier for people in the known world to be converted from their old pagan beliefs, to become Christians, the church promoted its own traditions that were similar with the existing traditions of the old religions. It was the case that the pagan germanic tribes in this neighbourhood had their own spirits associated with bringing gifts in mid-winter. Hence, the figure of Saint Nikolaos was exported to become eventually Sinterklaas. And from there on, centuries after that, the Dutch people brought their customs on their colonies (18th century). So it happened at the American colonies, the lands that became afterwards part of the States. And there Sinterklaas in turn, became Santa Clauss.
Which became a popular plastic figure all around the world. And we lived happily ever after...
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We would like to thank Anniek for her help, the corrections that she made in the initial version of this post and all the extra information that she provided. Happy Sinterklaas meisje!
