St Nicholas Feast Day Joys and Scares

In other parts, it’s a little bit more complicated when it comes to Christmas gift bringers. Croatia is one of those parts. There are many Christmas saints associated with bringing presents in different parts of Croatia. Of course, we adopted Santa, too, and he comes on Christmas eve bringing the best of all presents. Although, we don’t even know how to call him properly. Over the decades, we’ve changed his names. These days, we most commonly call him Deda Mraz (Grandpa Frost) or sometimes Djed Božićnjak (Grandpa Christmas).

In English, the name Santa Claus actually derives from St Nicholas. Here in Croatia, St Nicholas visits the homes somewhere in the night before his feast day, and that’s December the 6th. He leaves gifts for good children and officially opens up the joyful Christmas season.

 The English name Santa Claus derives from St Nicholas. Photo by I. Vinković, TZGZ

We could call this an overture to Christmas. Small gifts, children’s anticipation, seasonal magic, a saint. On St Nicholas Eve, children will clean their boots and put them in their windows. In the morning, they will find a present inside.

Back in the 19th century, the boots were filled with some walnuts and a piece of fresh fruit. Later on, the presents grew into candies, an orange, and maybe a pair of socks. In the past decades, we’ve grown to like spending loads of money around Christmas as a society. It’s hard to satisfy the kids with those traditional boot-fillings. St Nicholas gifts often don't fit the boots anymore. They might be too much. Especially if you know that this is still just an intro to Christmas.

Oh, wait! There is something else in those boots! A buckle of golden twigs? Just before St Nicholas feast day, there will be street vendors of golden twigs all around Zagreb.

That’s because... St Nicholas never travels alone. There is a monster that he drags along in chains. It’s Krampus! Krampus is a devilish creature all covered in hair, with horns, and a tongue that goes all the way to the ground. He carries a giant sack and takes the naughty children with him! He’s the one who leaves the twigs as a warning.

Greetings from Krampus - imagine receiving this Christmas card when you were a kid! 

In some countries, like Germany, Austria, and our neighbor Slovenia, the tradition of Krampus is still very much alive. Here in Zagreb, not that much. Some families still introduce Krampus into their daily lives a few days before he arrives. Those are a few days of heaven on earth for the adults: children are so obedient, their rooms clean, and all you did was mention Krampus.

However, this is nothing compared to the past times. Back in the day, they really did their best to scare the kids on that day. Every neighborhood had its own pair, a St Nicholas dressed as a bishop, and a Krampus. They visited each and every house. If you lived at one end of a street, you could hear them coming when they were still at the other end. Krampus yelling: “Where are the naughty children? I want to put them in my bag!” with that terrifying sound of chains.

Then they came to your house. St Nicholas took his time, slowly trying to find your name in his book of good children. Very slowly. He couldn’t find it at first. All that time, Krampus is shouting: “They're not in your book, they're the naughty ones, give them to me!”

Take care! A Krampus spotted in Zagreb! Photo by S. Kaštelan, TZGZ

The poor children are on their knees, saying every single prayer they know or don’t know, changing colors, sweating! Finally, St Nicholas finds their name. They receive a few walnuts as a reward for being good kids all year long. You can only imagine how grateful they were for this precious gift.

Traditions have changed. Don’t worry! We don’t torture children anymore like that. We sometimes even tell them that the golden branches are in their boots because they were good. They wouldn’t be golden if they were left by Krampus as a threat, right? Still, isn't it fun to remember how things were? From a distance, it's fun to imagine the city with all those pairs of Nicks and Krampuses walking around with their awkward scenarios.

One thing hasn’t changed. St Nicholas feast day is when we truly feel Christmas entering our homes in Croatia.

Author: Iva Silla