Erika Raab
Santa Claus is the most prominent symbol of Christmas in Western culture. Everybody knows and adores the chubby old man with a long white beard and a red suit, who travels the world in his sleigh to spread love and cheer on Christmas Eve. In our culture, he has become the icon of Christmas as we know it. But who even invented the tale of Santa Claus and how did this story spread across the entire world?
To understand where Santa Claus came from, we must travel back to the 4th century. Yes, the legend of Santa Claus started that long ago. It began with a monk, later Bishop, named St Nicholas, who lived near Myra, in Turkey. It is believed that he gave out all of his wealth and made secret gifts to those in need, making him known in the entire region. This made him become a Saint after his death. St Nicholas died on the 6th of December but the exact year is unknown. That is why many European countries celebrated the saint on the day of his death by leaving gifts for their children out the night before. After the Reformation however, Martin Luther spread the idea of giving gifts to children on the 24th of December, making the celebrations coincide with the birth of Christ rather than the saints, as Protestants believe this is more important. But someone still had to deliver the gifts on Christmas, even if it wasn’t St Nicholas. So in the 16th century, in Germany and Austria particularly, the “Christkindl” emerged which is a figure for baby Jesus. He is depicted as a young child with locks of golden hair and a white cloth. German settlers brought this tradition to America in the 19th century, giving Santa Claus his additional name “Kris Kringle”. In these countries, the Christian tradition of baby Jesus himself delivering the gifts on Christmas Eve still exists today.
However, St Nicholas is still celebrated in many European countries on the 6th of December today. Not as an alternative to Christmas, but as a separate holiday. In the Netherlands particularly, St Nicholas was popular for a long time. He was named “Sinter Klaas” in Dutch which is a shortened version of the direct translation of St Nicholas “Sint Nikolaas”. Dutch settlers brought the legend of “Sinter Klaas” to New York in the 1800s which later made “Santa Claus” become a phonetic deviation of “Sinter Klaas”.
The idea of Santa Claus bringing joy and festivity on Christmas comes mostly from the British English version of him, Father Christmas, who has existed in England since the 16th century. He is depicted as a large man with either a green or scarlet coat, spreading happiness on Christmas Day.
Additionally it is believed that the Nordic god Odin may have influenced ideas of St Nicholas and Father Christmas. With his blue coat and long beard, he was the gift bringer of the North for a long time.
In the 19th and 20th century, many artists, authors and newspapers began adding on to the image of Santa Claus and refining him to what we know him as today: a chubby old man with a red suit and a white beard. He lives at the North Pole and travels with a sleigh pulled by his reindeer. Many of these ideas had existed beforehand in different forms and were now being thrown together for the first time. Many believe that Coca Cola coined the image of Santa Claus as known today but in fact, this is an urban legend. Coca Cola did use Santa Claus in their advertising, but did not invent anything new about him, nor were they the first company to use Kris Kringle to promote their products.
Santa Claus is a colourful mixture of all kinds of different traditions and countries’ ideas about Christmas and it would be impossible to point to one single origin. This is what makes Christmas so special. Not only does it spread joy and unite everyone on a single holiday, it also unites a lot of world history and historic traditions of different cultures all across the world. Santa Claus truly represents the spirit of Christmas.
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