December 6 th is the day when Hungary ’s Santa makes his rounds, traditionally, by a horse drawn sleigh. He is said to be accompanied by two helpers, a good angel who gives out presents to good children and a krampusz, a mean goblin who punishes bad children.
Santa is Szent Mikulás (Saint Nicholas) and 6 th December is Mikulás Nap (St. Nicholas day).
He is very simialr to the Western Santa except that instead of a Santa Clause costume he wears the red robes of a bishop, a red miter on his head and carries a staff in one hand.
On the evening of the 5 th December children polish their shoes and put them in the window. By the morning, if they have been good, Mikulás bácsi (uncle Nicholas) will fill their shoes with candy, tangerines, walnuts, apples, dates and chocolate Mikulás figures. Unfortunately, nowadays, the chocolate figures look more like the Western Santa Clause than the traditional Hungarian figure but are just as delicious. Also, most children recieve small toys and books.
If the child has been bad, the boot will contain just a bundle of twigs, usually with a krampusz-figure attached, indicating a beating is in order. Since no child is all good or all bad, most get the bundle of twiggs and the presents.
The Christmas of 2003 was my first Christmas in Hungary . I had never heard of Szent Mikulás. Imagine my surprise when there was a knock on the door and when I opened it Szent Mikulás himself was standing there with his sack of presents and he was accompanied by Krampusz.
Apparently, every year, on Mikulás Nap, Szent Mikulás and krampusz call on all the children in the immediate area, where we live in Ercsi, handing out presents and bundles of twigs to mark the occasion. They rightly guessed that I had never heard of the custom and they wanted to surprise me. My husband and I were both given a present and a bundle of twiggs. I was delighted that they had thought of me as it was a lovely way to start off my first Hungarian Christmas.
