I discovered the quaint Austrian custom of St. Nicholas Day while walking through the streets of Salzburg, Austria years ago. I saw St. Nicholas dressed in flowing white robes carrying a staff and wearing a Bishop’s hat. He had a soft white beard and was followed around by a scary looking creature called Krampus or devil who carried a wooden stick.

Each year on December fifth the eve of St. Nicholas Day, children in Austria put their shoes on the windowsill or outside their bedroom doors. They hope to find their shoes filled with items such as oranges, apples, nuts, sweets, and small toys when they wake the next morning. That is if they have been good.

St. Nicholas walks through the streets and sometimes stops to visit the children in their homes or those busy shopping in the city. He comes with a devil figure called the Krampus. The Krampus is often in chains and is often dressed in fur with a scary mask and a long red tongue. He carries a wooden stick or a switch to encourage misbehaving children to change their ways. Of course, St. Nicholas won’t allow the Krampus to harm anyone and once the children promise to be good St. Nicholas rewards them with a treat.

It is a special custom that you could add to your Christmas celebration. On December 5th have your children put one of their shoes under the Christmas tree or by the front door. You could even call it the St. Nicholas elf (that will pay your family a visit) if you want to change this custom just a bit and explain that he will check and see if they are being good. Fill their shoes with a treat or a variety of treats (which could include European chocolates), an ornament, or a small toy. Be creative and it doesn’t have to be anything really expensive or big. Just something simple and fun to invite the Christmas spirit.

Before you celebrate or add this custom to your holiday, share a little about the country of Austria and explain this custom with your family. You could find a book about Austria or look on line for many resources that would show pictures of this beautiful country. You could also have your family gather around the piano or guitar and sing “Silent Night”. The well known Christmas song composed by two Austrians and tell them the story behind the writing of this song as well.

The idea is to start a new tradition in your family while teaching them about another country and one of their customs in a subtle and simple fun way. Learning about another country and practicing one of its customs can enrich your family’s life and open your children’s minds to discovering things about other people and places this holiday season! Give it a try and maybe you will want to add other customs from a variety of countries!

Cathy Ramage is a co founder of Christmas Twigs, an online year round Christmas and holiday site. You can also find more ideas and suggestions for celebrating the holidays at Chistmas Twigs Blog

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