Our St. Nicholas story

A celebration of poetry

In the Netherlands, it is not Santa Claus who is the most popular bearded man during the Christmas month, but St. Nicholas. Excuse me? Yes, that's right. Dennis de Bakker, postdoctoral researcher in the Valenzano research group, explains why.

The figure of St. Nicholas, known as Sinterklaas, goes back to a rich Spaniard who is said to have given poor children pieces of gold in their shoes - and was therefore canonized by the church. Four weeks before Christmas, he arrives in the city's harbor by boat from Spain with his entourage. To lure Sinterklaas on his horse to the houses, a shoe with a carrot in it is placed on the mantelpiece and the children sing a few songs in front of it. Soon afterwards, Piet the helper comes down the chimney and exchanges the carrot (for the horse) for some sweets. These include chocolate letters - the first letters of the children's first names.

But the main attraction is yet to come. The presents are delivered on December 5, Sinterklaas' birthday. They arrive in a large sack, which Sinterklaas places in front of the door. The culinary specialty of the day is pepernoten (peppernuts). "But the best thing about our Christmas tradition is when you're finally big enough to be involved in the gift preparation," reveals Dennis. Then the family draws lots to decide who should give presents to which family member. The special thing about it is that the gift consists of a self-written poem about the experiences of the year of the person receiving the gift and something handmade. "It's a real challenge and a lot of work," assures Dennis, "it's better to start in August so that it's ready in time." All the personal gifts are finally placed in the large sack, which is placed in front of the house to surprise the children.

And Christmas? That is also celebrated, but: "Only some families give presents a second time and there is no traditional meal," says Dennis. Last year, he could only take part in his family's Sinterklaas celebration online, which he found was a lot less fun. So this year he will simply make up for Sinterklaas at Christmas when he is at home. Dennis wishes everyone a "Vrolijk kerstfeest!"