Who brings Europeans their Christmas presents?

Christmas has finally come and, if you’ve been good, a load of presents has most likely arrived along with it.

But who delivers those much-anticipated gifts to Europe? It might sound like an obvious question, but in true European fashion, the countries are united in their diversity, so it’s not actually quite as straightforward as you might think.

The most obvious answer is of course Santa Claus, the bearded personification of Christmas known for his red attire, hearty laugh and flying reindeer companions.

He’s so synonymous with Christmas that he’s likely to appear across the continent, but many countries have their own flavour of Santa, even though they’re all often considered the same person.

Father Christmas and Saint Nicholas

In much of Western Europe, like France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the UK, it’s Father Christmas who delivers presents, with his name changing slightly depending on the language.

Whether it’s Père Noël, Babbo Natale or Pai Natal, they were all traditionally different but have since blended together with Santa, sharing similar red clothing, their workshop in the North Pole or Lapland and their team of elves.

In parts of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, you’ve got Christmas Man, who performs the same function, and for other countries, it’s Saint Nicholas.

Saint Nicholas is considered the origin of Santa Claus — the early Christian bishop, born in the year 270 according to tradition, was known for his generosity and gift-giving, and later became the patron saint of children, among other titles.

Dutch families eventually began celebrating the Feast of Saint Nicholas, referring to him as Sinterklaas, a tradition which eventually made its way to the US as Santa Claus.

This image of a kind, old man eventually merged with European folktales of a magician who rewarded good children with presents.

Christkind

Sometimes it’s the Christ-child himself who delivers gifts: he tends to appear in central Europe, such as southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

He traditionally gave out presents in Portugal and Italy too, but he’s now mostly handed the job over there.

In some of these countries, he is the literal representation of the Baby Jesus, who came into tradition in an effort to draw attention to the figure from whom Christmas gets its name.

In others, the Christkind or Christ-child is a female angelic figure with blond hair and wings who embodies the qualities of Jesus.

Sometimes the Christ-child accompanies Saint Nicholas in giving out gifts, and sometimes they are accompanied by an angel.

Children never see the Christkind in person and are encouraged to not go looking for them while they’re delivering presents. They’ll usually do so while everyone is out of the house.

Three Kings

Sticking with the Nativity story, the Three Kings or Three Wise Men deliver presents to Spaniards on 5 January.

Also known as the Three Magi, their role as gift-givers stems from their appearance at the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, according to the Bible.

Arriving from the east, they presented him with gold to represent his kingship on earth; frankincense as a symbol of his divinity; and myrrh as a foretelling of his death and sacrifice.

The Three Kings go by the names Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar and parade through the streets of Spanish cities every year, throwing sweets to children.

Old Man Frost

Looking east to places like Russia and Serbia, you’ve got Old Man aka Grandpa Frost doing the gift-giving.

He’s another Santa-like figure, complete with a long fur coat (usually red or blue), long white beard and a magic staff. He often brings presents to well-behaved children overnight on New Year’s Eve.

Ukraine tends to get gifts both from him and Saint Nicholas, as many Ukrainian families celebrate both.

And there’s more…

Other countries and even regions within those countries have different characters still.

Saint Basil is the traditional present-bringer in Greece and Cyprus. Like Saint Nicholas, he was an early Christian bishop renowned for his care of the poor.

In Greek tradition, he brings presents to children on 1 January (Saint Basil’s Day), when families also eat vasilopita — a cake or sweet bread with a coin inside, representing the saint’s charity.

In Catalonia and Andorra, you’ve got the infamous Christmas Log, which defecates gifts and sweets for children after being beaten with sticks.

The Nordic countries also have their own traditional gift givers, including Iceland’s Christmas Lads, the Christmas Gnome from Norway and Sweden, and Finland’s Christmas Goat. As with many other figures, they share many traits with Santa nowadays, even though they each have their own origin stories.

Whoever brings you your gifts, Merry Christmas from Euronews.