As a child I loved Nikolaus Day on 6 December. We used to put our boots in front of the entrance door and the next morning they were filled with, what was for us at the time exotic nuts, mandarins, lovely apples and some chocolates.  This tradition originated from Saint Nicholas – also called Nikolaos of Myra – a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to him, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him.

Do people still commemorate Nikolaus in Germany these days? In the spirit of St Nikolaus, here is a list of Christmas gift suggestions by Oren Arnold entirely free:

To your enemy, forgiveness
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

Happy Nikolaus!

PS: Check out this super dagy video of a typical Nikolaus song Nikolaus komm in unser Haus… and here is the text so you can sing along!

Nikolaus komm in unser Haus,
pack die großen Taschen aus.
Lustig, lustig, trallerallala!
Heut ist Nikolaus Abend da,
heut ist Nikolaus Abend da.

Stell das Pferdchen unter den Tisch
dass es Heu und Hafer frisst.
Lustig, lustig, trallerallala!
Heut ist Nikolaus Abend da,
heut ist Nikolaus Abend da.

Heu und Hafer frisst es nicht,
Zuckerplätzchen kriegt es nicht.
Lustig, lustig, trallerallala!
Heut ist Nikolaus Abend da,
heut ist Nikolaus Abend da.