Listen to Brenda read the story
“Down through the chimney with good Saint Nick!” So goes the tune about that guy who brings presents and drinks the milk and eats cookies that the kids leave out. The identity of this visitor was generally accepted when I was a kid. St. Nick was just one of many names for the jolly fellow in the red suit who comes in a sleigh filled with presents. As it turns out, it’s not so simple.
Here in Bavaria, St. Nick is not jolly or even a fellow, for that matter. The person who prefers flying sleighs and chimneys to public transport — understandable, considering the miserable train service — is the mysterious Christkind, the bringer of presents on Christmas Eve. Literally, it means Christ child, but is that who this is?
“It’s an angel,” a friend told me.
“No, it is the Christ child, but with wings, wearing a long, white, flowing robe,” said another.
Since when does baby Jesus have wings? Or wear a Victorian nightgown?
You rarely see representations of the Christkind, because nobody knows what he/she/it looks like. How can you market something so nebulous? And if it is baby Jesus, he isn’t going to be doling out presents from the manger. He’s supposed to be the one receiving them from those three guys who just arrived on camelback, two of…
