Who does not know him the man from Spain who, together with his Pieten, hands out presents to all the sweet children every year on December 5 during Pakjesavond in the Netherlands, celebrating his birthday. In Belgium, he does this on December 6 on Pakjesdag.
Who does not know him the man from Spain who, together with his Pieten, hands out presents to all the sweet children every year on December 5 during "pakjesavond" in the Netherlands, celebrating his birthday. In Belgium he does this on December 6 on pakjesdag. But how did the Sinterklaas party actually originate, did he actually come from Spain and why don't the Netherlands and Belgium celebrate it on the same date?
Sinterklaas originated with Nicholas, the bishop of Myra. Myra is now in Turkey, but previously in the Byzantine Empire. Nicholas was born around 280 and was a very charitable man who cared a lot about people.
Nicholas did not get the name Saint for nothing, of course. To earn this title, you have to be a good example to all the people around you and at least two miracles have to happen. No one knew exactly what a miracle was, they were things that no one could explain. Many special stories were told about Nicholas. One is that as a baby he could pray to God in his bathtub. In addition, we all know St. Nicholas as a children's friend, this may be because of the special story about three children. The children were murdered and Nicholas brought them back to life. Nicholas also gave a lot of money to the poor. After his death on Dec. 6, Nicholas was buried and canonized because of his many good deeds. After this, the remains of St. Nicholas' bones were brought to Bari, Italy, by his worshipers.
But did you know that St. Nicholas is not from Spain at all? Nowadays, St. Nicholas should actually come from Bari in Italy where his remains are kept. Bari used to be owned by Spain for a long time, which is probably why Italy is confused with Spain.
Over time, St. Nicholas has changed a great deal. Although the idea behind it has remained the same, the traditions have changed. When putting the shoe was no longer done in churches but in the living room, it was not the same as we know it today. Most children received a homemade gift from the parents, only later when prosperity increased did they receive purchased gifts from stores. The custom was to then have the children put their shoe on December 5, before they went to bed. In this, on December 6, their shoe would then be filled by Pete, who would come out of the chimney to put in presents or candy. Only later was the celebration expanded and it became a custom that Sinterklaas together with the Pieten went by the door the night before his birthday with a big bag of presents. So this is how December 5's Saint Nicholas Eve originated in the Netherlands. In Belgium it is still celebrated the old-fashioned way, they put the shoe in the evening and unwrap the presents in the morning on December 6.
Naturally, you will make a Saint Nicholas Eve or Saint Nicholas morning extra cozy and atmospheric, if you have decorated the house nicely with all different Saint Nicholas and Pieten decorations. For this day, we have all the party supplies in our assortment to make this day a cozy and cheerful Sinterklaas party . Think of streamers, balloons, cups, door signs and we even have a super cute Sinterklaas jute bag for all the presents.
Do you want to dress up as Sinterklaas or Piet? Then we have different suits for children and adults. We have the Pete suits available in different colors: blue, pink, red and green and many other colors.
To a Pietenpak, of course, the accessories should not be missing, such as a Pieten wig, face paint and a Pieten hat. We also have these in all colors for both adults, and children. Of course, we also have the Sinterklaas miter and a Sinterklaas book in our assortment.
We all know it, the delicious pepernoten, meringues and other treats that the Pieten always scatter during the entry of St. Nicholas. But how did the sprinkling actually originate? One of the legends that continues to this day is that Nicholas threw coins through the window to three women who would go into prostitution because their father had become an impoverished nobleman. Nicholas would save the sisters as a result and also provide their dowry. The sprinkling of the straw is thus traced to this act.
Setting the shoe has been around since the 15th century. It was first done in church. Poorer people put their shoe in church on Dec. 5 and this was then filled by rich people on Dec. 6. Only later came the tradition of children putting the shoe in the living room, in order to get a nice present. Nowadays children also put a carrot and a bowl of water next to their shoe, for St. Nicholas' horse.
Sinterklaas Eve is all about fun, treats and presents, but when you reach a certain age you no longer put your shoe in, but draw lots and make surprises. Everyone draws a card with the name of someone in the group and makes a nice and funny surprise for them. In the surprise you put a present and you also add a poem about the person you are giving the surprise to. Should you find making a surprise too much work, you can always go for the fun dice game and this way make sure you get as many presents as possible.
See yonder comes the steamboat:
See yonder comes the steamboat,
from Spain arrives again.
He brings us St. Nicholas,
I can see him already.
How is his little horse hopping,
up and down the deck.
How do the pennants blow,
al to and fro.
His servant is laughing,
and is already calling to us:
He who is sweet gets treats,
he who is naughty gets the ropes,
Oh, dear Saint Nicholas,
come to me, too.
And don't drive quietly anyway,
pass our little house!
Sinterklaas Kapoentje
Sinterklaas Kapoentje,
throw something in my shoe,
throw something in my boot,
Thank you, Saint Nicholas.
Sinterklaas Kapoentje,
throw something in my shoe,
throw something in my boot,
Thank you, Saint Nicholas.
