Does the Germany pavilion at Epcot do anything for St. Nicholas Day?

erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My 74 year old mother in law was born and raised in northern Germany, and grew up celebrating St. Nicholas Day.

We keep the tradition alive in our family, by having our children leave their shoes out for St. Nicholas every December 5 - and low and behold- St. Nicholas brings them some goodies (mostly candy) to fill their shoes by December 6 every year!

We will be at WDW December 5 and December 6. Just wondered if the German pavilion will do anything special for St. Nicholas Day?
 
castlecake2.0

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
When I worked in World Showcase I dont recall the pavillion offering anything for this day, though you could perhaps purchase some German candy there to hide in the shoes to keep your tradition going :wave:
 
wbc

wbc

New Member
Each of the pavilions have a speaker that talks about holiday traditions in that country. I can't remember if Germany has an actual Santa.



Also, isn't the Sinterklaus Dec 5 holiday you are talking about is more Dutch than German?????????
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
wbc said:
Each of the pavilions have a speaker that talks about holiday traditions in that country. I can't remember if Germany has an actual Santa.



Also, isn't the Sinterklaus Dec 5 holiday you are talking about is more Dutch than German?????????
Click to expand...

Although "these days" it is considered more of a Bavarian (southern Germany) tradition, in fact, most German children celebrated December 6 as St. Nicholas Day each holiday season in decades past. My mother in law was visited by (obviously someone dressed up as :)) St. Nicholas every year. St. Nicholas went from house to house and asked her if she had been good, etc. St. Nicholas would fill her shoes overnight and she would have presents (usually a few pieces of candy) in the morning. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were more about celebrating the Christ child, family, and a big meal.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=87

My mother in law was 8 or 9 when World War 2 ended. She lived much of her young years in an orphanage of sorts- where she had been sent, like many children, to avoid the bombings in Cologne. So you can imagine what joy a few pieces of candy on December 6 brought to her and why she loves the tradition so much! :xmas:
 
trr1

trr1

Well-Known Member
what about the Belsnickel

Belsnickel is the fur-clad Santa of the Palatinate (Pfalz) in southwestern Germany along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald region of Baden-Württemberg.
In Pennsylvania Dutch communities, it is also a mythical being who visits children at Christmas time. If they have not been good, they will find coal and/or switches in their stockings. The Belsnickel was a scary creature not well loved except by parents wanting to keep their children in line.
Belsnickel is similar to Krampus in German-Austrian legend, except compared to Krampus, Belsnickel is rather benign. Belsnickel is a man wearing fur which covers his entire body, and he sometimes wears a mask with a long tongue. Krampus, on the other hand, is a demonic looking creature whose purpose is to scare children through his looks as well as his discipline techniques.
Among some families of German descent, Belsnickel delivers socks or shoes full of candy to children on the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6. St. Nicholas is purported to have enabled the three daughters of a poor man to pay the dowries for their weddings. The poor man couldn’t afford his daughters’ dowries so Nicholas came to the man’s house at night and sneaked three sacks of gold into the house thus saving the daughters from the indignity of a solitary life or prostitution.
Belsnickel and Christkind are also found among population of Volga German descent in Argentina.
 

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