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Thali

Next: 6 Dec 2026

St Nicholas Day

Children in central Europe wake to boots filled with nuts, mandarins, chocolate and gingerbread.

Traditional celebration of Saint Nicholas day in Czech Republic, Malá Strana, Prague
Photo: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for St Nicholas Day

On the night of 5 December children in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and their neighbours put a polished boot outside the door. In the morning St Nicholas has filled it with walnuts, mandarins, apples, chocolate and gingerbread. The saint was a bishop known for secret gifts to the poor. Bakers make sweet bread figures of a man, called Stutenkerl or Weckmann in Germany and Grittibänz in Switzerland. The feast falls in Advent and is the first treat of the season.

The dishes

StutenkerlSweet bread man baked for the day.LebkuchenGingerbread in the boot.ChocolateOften in the shape of the saint.

Also part of it, and being written: Mandarin orange (With nuts, the old filling of the boot.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Saint Nicholas Day" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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