>When I was a student in Marburg, Germany, in 1971, on St. Nicholas eve, I
>encountered a Sankt Nikolaus, dressed in a bishop's vestments, with a
>miter on his head, making rounds (presumably to visit children of friends
>or relatives). So the episcopal Nikolaus and the December 6 date (as
>I understand it, key elements in the Dutch Sinterclaas approach) were
>alive and well at that point in a German university town. Perhaps others
>on the list can tell us whether the practice can still be found in Germany
>today.
>
>Dennis Martin
Of course it is; there is an old tradition of visits of Nikolaus (at least
in the region of Frankfurt and the Middle-Rhine on Dec. 5, evening),
bringing presents or "punishing" nasty children - while the appearance of
Sankt Nikolaus in the shopping centers, more frequent than when I was a
child, might be a tradition revived, as I suspect, by too much American
films and soap operas on German TV.
Felicitas
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Dr. Felicitas Schmieder
Historisches Seminar der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitaet
Senckenberganlage 31
D-60054 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. +49-69-798-22368
Fax +49-69-798-22702
home Tel./fax +49-6195-74799
e-mail [log in to unmask]
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