In Roman Catholic areas of southern Germany, such as Bavaria, Sankt Nikolaus still comes as a bishop with flowing beard and a bishop's miter and staff. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and children clean and polish their shoes or boots in preparation for the saint's visit. On the evening before St. Nicholas Day, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white horse or donkey on a plate or in their shoes. These are left outside, under the bed, beside a radiator, or on a windowsill in hopes of finding goodies from St. Nicholas the next morning. During the night Sankt Nikolaus goes from house to house carrying a book in which all the children's deeds are written. If they have been good, he fills their plate, shoe or boot with delicious fruits, nuts and candies. If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs.
(Source: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/germany/)
The entire time I have been studying German and the Germanic culture, I have known about St. Nikolaus (thanks to Frau Weisheipl!). In the 9th grade in my first German class, Frau Weisheipl had us memorize this poem:
Ach, du lieber Nikolaus,
Komm doch einmal in mein Haus!
Hab' so lang an dich gedacht!
Hast du mir auch was mitgebracht?
Translation:
Oh, dear Nikolaus,
Come once again to my house!
I have been thinking of you for so long!
Have you also brought me something?
(Germans are a direct bunch...guess they learn it early!)
I left a little surprise for my room mates this morning on the table (a chocolate St. Nikolaus), and bought a small Lindt chocolate St. Nikolaus for myself. Come on, when in Germany...
The best surprise of the day today was when I got to work this morning. I found this on my desk! How fun!
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