St Nicholas Day: when it is, what to put in the shoes, and how families celebrate

Who was St Nicholas?

A bishop of Myra, a town on the south coast of today's Turkey, in the fourth century. The best-known story about him: a poor man could not pay dowries for his three daughters, so Nicholas secretly threw bags of gold through their window at night — and they landed in stockings and shoes left to dry by the fire. That is why children still put out shoes and stockings, and why chocolate coins are the classic treat.

Dutch settlers brought Sinterklaas to New Amsterdam, and over the nineteenth century New Yorkers turned him into Santa Claus. So St Nicholas Day is not a rival to Christmas — it is where Santa started.

What to put in the shoes

The classics fit in a child's boot: chocolate coins for the gold, a mandarin or an orange, walnuts, a chocolate St Nicholas, gingerbread or speculaas cookies, and a candy cane — some families say it is shaped like the bishop's staff. Keep it small: this is a taste of Christmas, not a second Christmas.

For little children, add a picture book about St Nicholas, mittens, stickers or a small ornament for the tree. Older kids and teens are happy with cozy socks, a new book, a small game or a hot chocolate kit. Many families keep going for grown-up children too — good chocolate and a note from St Nick never gets old.

In the old tradition, naughty children found a lump of coal or a bundle of twigs instead. Today that is a joke — usually a piece of black licorice or coal-shaped candy on top of the treats.

How each tradition celebrates

German and Austrian families put out their boots for Nikolaus on the evening of the 5th. In northern Germany he comes with Knecht Ruprecht; in Austria and Bavaria with Krampus, the horned figure who scares the naughty ones.

Dutch and Flemish families celebrate Sinterklaas. In the Netherlands the big night is December 5, pakjesavond, with presents and funny poems; children put out a shoe with a carrot for his horse in the weeks before. In Belgium the presents come on the morning of the 6th.

Polish children find gifts from Mikołaj under the pillow or in their shoes on Mikołajki, December 6 — in Polish, St Nicholas and Santa share the same name. Czech and Slovak families wait for Mikuláš, who walks the streets on the evening of the 5th with an angel and a devil; children recite a poem or sing to earn their treats. Hungarians put their boots in the window for Mikulás, and Ukrainian children find presents from Sviatyi Mykolai under the pillow.

What people eat on St Nicholas Day

Spiced cookies above all: Dutch speculaas pressed in wooden moulds, pepernoten, German Lebkuchen, and in Germany a sweet yeast-bread man with raisin eyes called a Weckmann. Chocolate letters are a Dutch favourite — each child gets the first letter of their name. Add mandarins, nuts and a mug of hot chocolate, and you have the whole table.