Holland

For most children in Holland, the most important day in the Christmas Celebration is 6th December, St. Nicholas’ day. St. Nicholas, called ‘Sinter Klass’ in Holland, is where Santa Claus comes from. On the morning of St. Nicholas’ Day, Sinter Klass travels to Amsterdam in a boat, wearing his red bishop’s robes. He travels with his servant called Black Peter. When Sinter Klass and Black Peter come ashore from the boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinter Klass then leads a procession through Amsterdam, riding a white horse, to meet the Queen of Amsterdam in the Palace.

On St. Nicholas Eve, children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinter Klass’s horse, they will be left some sweets. Children are told that Black Peter keeps a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a book and that good children will get presents from Sinter Klass, but bad children will get chased by Black Peter with a stick!!

Sinter Klass parties are often held on St. Nicholas Eve, where treasure hunt games are played with poems and riddles giving the clues. Children follow the clues to find little presents left by Sinter Klass. Special biscuits and sweets are also eaten at the party. One type of biscuit is called ‘letter blanket’ or letter cake, which is made from marzipan or pastry. The biscuits are made in the shapes of the first letter of the peoples names who are at the party. Another sweet biscuit that is eaten at the parties (and the favourite of a Dutch friend of mine!) are ‘peper noot’ which are made with cinnamon and spices in the pastry biscuit mix.

Surprise presents are also given at St. Nicholas Day. This is a custom at the Sinter Klaas parties and often within classes at schools. The custom is that everyone’s name in put into a hat and everyone picks another person’s name — then they have to make a surprise present for that person. The presents are often things that the person would find useful with their favourite hobby. My Dutch friend had a recorder bag made for her at school. The presents come with a poem inside that gives a clue to who might have sent the present, but it is all meant to be a mystery! This is a similar custom to a present sending one in Germany.

Christmas Day itself is a much quieter day in Holland, with a Church Service and family meal. Sometimes there is a special Christmas Day ‘Sunday School’ in the afternoon at the church, where the Christmas Story and other traditional stories are told. My friend was given a book, an orange and biscuits. These are often the only presents children will get on Christmas Day because they have already received most of their presents on St. Nicholas Day.