Samichlaus 101

We went to this year's Samichlaus again and it was a blast, mostly because Sofia is so much more into it this year, she even sat on Santa's lap with no fear whatsoever! They brought in "snow" so that the kids could play, mostly snowball fights.




This essay that was published in our Peninsula Swiss Club Newsletter by a man named Roger Bonner and it captures our "Saint Nicholas" tradition so well, I just had to put it in here to share. Enjoy:

Fröhliche Buon Bellas Noël!
By Roger Bonner

Christmas in Switzerland must be a paradise for children because there are so many different ways of celebrating this festival. In Catholic areas the season begins on 6th December, St. Nicholas Day. Now Samichlaus, San Nicolao or Père Noël, as he is variously known throughout the country, is not the obese, materialistic hohohooooing Santa Claus of North America who can barely make it down the chimney, but a lean, bearded bishop-like figure who comes round with a donkey and a fearful companion dressed in a dark cloak and hood called Schmutzli, also known as Knecht Ruprecht in Germany.“Have you been good boys and girls?” is the grim question and, if not, Schmutzli could in the past haul them off in a huge sack or even dispense corporeal punishment with his bundle of twigs. Usually the kiddies have tried hard to behave in the past few days and will receive cookies, tangerines, nuts, and, perhaps, even a chocolate cell phone.

Very important is the Adventkranz, a decorated evergreen wreath with four candles that families place on the dining room table. The first candle is lit on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The ceremony is sometimes accompanied with the singing of carols, and more eating of sweets - to be repeated on three more Sundays! Little children love Advent calendars, glittery posters traditionally depicting the Nativity, with angels and shepherds in the background. There are 24 tiny doors concealing Christmas pictures that they can open each December day, the last and largest being on Christmas Eve. And again each time they are rewarded with sweets.


During the season the land is overcome with a veritable baking mania. Housewives (and increasingly househusbands) break into a cookie fever to produce tons and tons of Weihnachtsguetzli with such lilting names as Brunsli, Mailänderli, Zimtsternli and Anisbrötli. They give them to friends and relatives who in turn present them with their own confections. The left-over glut of sweets may last well into February and be secretly fed to pigeons, a reason why so many of them have difficulty becoming airborne in the New Year. All of these elaborate preparations culminate in Christmas Eve.

The tree, not yet the giant, overloaded variety of North America, is decorated and lit with real candles and even sparklers, which keeps the firefighters in the country very tense. Children are not allowed to see what’s going on behind closed doors until their parents reveal the splendour and gifts to them. In many parts of Switzerland it is Christkindli, the Christ Child, and not Santa Claus, who brings the gifts, which are opened on Christmas Eve. The meal on Christmas Eve is usually kept simple: salmon on toast, cold cuts and pâtés are favourites. On Christmas day you hardly ever see a turkey or goose with all the trimmings. A Schüfeli is the fare, a rolled ham. In many households eating a cheese fondue or fondue bourguignonne, in which pieces of meat are dipped in hot oil or broth, have become increasingly popular, and then guess what’s for desert? Cookies!

French-speaking Switzerland, except for Fribourg, is predominantly Protestant and therefore Christmas is lower key. December 6 is hardly noticed. Père Noël climbs through the window on Christmas Eve to leave presents for good little boys and girls (if this were a condition for grown-ups no one would ever get anything!). In some families, he makes a personal appearance to hand out the gifts, but first the kids have to sing and dance and recite poems. As a reminder to be good throughout the following year, Father Christmas might conspicuously leave a bundle of twigs within easy reach.

Across the St. Gotthard and San Bernardino Passes lies the beautiful canton of Ticino. Here the spirit of Italy prevails. Although most families put up a Christmas tree, the Nativity, or presepio, is greatly cherished. Little stables made of twigs or wood are put under the tree. Family members go out to gather moss for lining the
manger. Then they place figurines of the Madonna, Giuseppe and angels, along with sheep, mules and oxen, in the presepio. The Gesú Bambino, the Baby Jesus, is lovingly added at midnight of Christmas Eve. The children in Ticino receive their presents on Christmas Day, and many believe it is the Gesú Bambino who has left them.
Some may even put out a bowl of milk for him before going to bed on Christmas Eve as an incentive to bring plenty, something which the cats love. The Ticinese enjoy their traditional meal of polenta with brazatto, a braised beef dish, or risotto on the afternoon of Christmas Day.

For sheer beauty and variety of landscape nothing beats the canton of Graubünden, where Romansch, an ancient Latin tongue, is mainly spoken. The mountains above the small town of Maienfeld are the home of Heidi, the classic tale which has delighted children the world over for more than a hundred years. As in the Ticino, most of the families of Graubünden decorate their homes with both a Christmas tree and a nativity scene called a purseppen. However, Christmas traditions can vary from place to place. In Catholic towns, St. Nicholas comes dressed as a bishop. In Protestant towns he is called Sontgaclau and he assumes the terrifying role of Schmutzli elsewhere. Children often receive their presents from Christkindli on Christmas Day. For the Christmas meal, each family prepares its own traditional menu, featuring ham or Bündnerfleish – air-dried beef cut in paper-thin slices.

However the customs may vary in Switzerland, a good Christmas spirit and joy of life is common to them all. And where else in the world can I you wish a Merry Christmas in four different languages?

Fröhliche Weihnachten, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Bellas Festas!