When Santa Claus Travelled to Switzerland

A long time ago, a good old man lived in Southern Italy called Nicolas Bishop of Myra. On a white horse he rode through town and made presents of oranges and toys to the children of the town. He looked after the sick, helped the poor, and took time for the lonely. Soon, people were calling him a saint. He loved travelling and stories from travellers enchanted him.

One traveller told him about a land on the other side of the Alps, and he was entranced by his account of happy people, healthy children, high mountains, and small lakes. Nicolas decided that he wanted to see this country, and therefore he called his dark skinned servant and they loaded an ass with oranges, tangerines, sweetmeats, nuts, and toys. And they crossed the high mountain passes over the Alps to come down out of eternal snow into the land of the Switzers.

From near and from far, people gathered to admire his outlandish finery. They prepared a feast for him and his companion and there was food, drink, music, singing and dancing. And Nicolas enquired about the children and where he learned that they were good children to their parents, he gave those fruits and nuts, but where he learned they were disobedient to their parents, they received a slap to their wrists from his companion.

After the feast during the night, Nicolas went from house to house filling the shoes of children with presents and leaving gold coins in the dwellings of the poor. But at one hut he couldn’t leave his presents. The people were so poor, their little house had no windows and the door was locked. Nicolas decided to throw gold coins through the chimney where they landed in the socks hanging by the fireside for drying.

The next morning, the family found the gold and they thought that they had received a gift from God, but their neighbour told them about their presents and the holy man from Italy who had distributed them to everybody during the night. They hurried to the farm where Santa Claus had stabled his ass, but they found the stable empty.

The day Santa Claus had arrived in Switzerland had been the 6th of December. The people named him Samichlaus (Santa Claus) and the story goes that he returns every year on that day together with his companion and an ass laden with gifts.

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