History of Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet

Santa Claus is a loved name by many children around the world. He is known to bring good times and presents to those who have been well behaved and deserve a little treat. In the Netherlands however, they refer to their beloved Christmans time figure as Sinterklaas. These two figures are derived from the same third-century Catholic bishop, Saint Nicholas. Over time, news of Saint Nicholas’s good patronage was spread across Europe and he very quickly became the patron saint of a lot of groups of people, one being children. There is also another story of him bringing a bag full of gifts to three prostitutes, and you can imagine what part of Christmas is derived from that. 

 

While the Dutch have celebrated Sinterklaas for at least 700 years, the more recent traditions- like Zwarte Piet- came from a book written in 1850 when the commercialization of Sinterklaas really started taking place. With this commercialization of the event, a more concrete story and ritual started taking place, and this is how it goes.

 

Every year, about three weeks before December 5th, Sinterklaas himself is said to come from Spain by way of a steamboat. He brings with him presents and treats with his helper Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). They go around to schools and houses, events and parades, with hundreds of people watching and even dressing up as them. On December 5th is when the magic truly begins to happen. Once all the people have gone to sleep and nicely placed their shoes out for Sinterklass to find, he and his helper start their trek. They go from house to house, jumping over roofs, riding on horseback to give these gifts that they brought to all the children. Zwarte Piet is in charge of going down all the chimneys and placing the presents in the shoes of those sleeping.  

 

So you can really see that Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet are swarmed with so much tradition. There is the lore of  Saint Nicholas from long ago that inspired Sinterklaas and even more recently the book that was written in 1850 that created a lot of the specific traditions that the Dutch participate in today. The majority of the community believes in the tradition because it gives them even more of a sense of community and identity of being Dutch. The tradition is really important to a lot of people who live there and they go beyond just believing in it, they also participate in it. 

 

With traditions, there are usually some rituals that go along with it, and celebrating Sinterklass is no different. The putting out of the shoes, the parades, and the songs, and rereading the stories of Sinterklaas and his helper. There are a lot of rituals during this holiday season that not only strengthen the belief in the story but also show who is a part of the Dutch community. And while it is so amazing that this country has this tradition and these rituals that mean so much to them, there is a lot of controversy around the rituals that they participate in.